Ties between the Past and Present
by MayaIxtab
Summary: They have been hunting for the Shikon shards for five years now... All their attemps at slowing down Naraku have failed due to the rivalry between the two half-brothers. Who is going to do something about it? Will Kagome try do remedy the situation?
1. Chapter 1: Thinking of the Future

**Hi everyone, I have finally gathered up my courage to write a story and I would like you to tell me if you like it or if I should just stick to reading and translating stories. Constructive criticism is more than welcome. **

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**Chapter 1: Thinking of the Future**

Our adventure began five years ago. I remember it as if it happened yesterday… It all began when I turned 15. Even today, I find it hard to believe that I can go back and forth in time as I please. Had someone told me back then that I would be able to go back in time through the dry well, which nowadays is found on the grounds of our shrine, I would have thought them to be crazy. Sometimes I wish I could have had a normal life and do things that people my age normally do, but in the end, I would never give up these years for anything. While travelling in the past I managed to meet some wonderful people, who in time did not become only my friends but also my family. If I were to lose them now, it would be like loosing a part of myself. I realized how I really felt about them two years ago when I finished high school … Once high school ended I started thinking about my life in the future and in the past… What would happen once the Shikon Jewel would disappear? Would I be trapped in the past or in the future? If I were to be sent back in the future, what will I do? What well-paid job could I get only with my high school diploma? It was obvious that if I stayed in the past I did not need to pursue my studies, since I could not do anything with them there, especially since in the Feudal Era women were still considered to be second-class citizens at best… These questions tormented me every day, until I finally took a decision that allowed me to stay in the past and continue my studies…

One year ago, I decided to go to the university and find out if there was any way of pursuing my studies from home. Therefore, I went to Tokyo University and talked to the secretaries from the faculty I was interested in, namely, History, and told them that I wanted to enroll at that faculty but that I had a problem, more exactly, a health problem that did not allow me to attend most of my high school classes. Having said this, they told me about a program that they had for people who were in my situation and they said that all I had to do was to pass the entrance exam and then only present myself during the exam period. One year has passed since then, and although I could not spend as much time as I would have liked reading and learning due to the shard hunting, I still was the best student of my class. After all, what better way to learn history, than literally live it?

As expected the exam period had come again and I had to return to the future. Of course, you can already imagine the fit Inuyasha threw when he heard that the shard hunt would be put on hold again… for a month. I can understand his point of view, but he also had to understand that once the jewel was completed and it disappeared I might be stuck in the future. What would I do then if I had no studies? I could not possibly find a well-paid job and I would not want to be a burden for my mother either. It was bad enough that she had to struggle to raise me and my brother on her own; only with our grandfather's help, since my father died when I was very young.

After half an hour of quarreling with Inuyasha and countless attempts of making him understand my reasons for the thousandth time, my anger finally got the better of me:

"I will go and sit _all_ my exams, regardless of what you say!"

"No way in _hell_, wench! We still have shards to collect!"

"I know, but I have to think of my future too, since I don't know what will happen once the jewel will disappear."

"We don't have time to waste with your stupid tests!"

"I am going and this is final!"

"Are you…"

"One more word and I will sit you all the way to America."

"Wench…"

"SIT!"

After I put an end to this tedious fight, I picked up my backpack and headed for the well, but not before sending him a last warning, in the iciest voice I could muster:

"The following month… I will be busy with exams, so if you dare show your face to me… Trust me when I tell you that you will wish you were dead long before I'll be done with you. If you want to look for shards, you can do so on your own, since we, _anyway_, tend to run aimlessly all throughout Japan when we collect shards." Having voiced this last threat, I headed for the well, leaving behind a fuming Inuyasha.

Surprisingly, Inuyasha did not come to the future for the entire duration of the month, and I could not help but wonder what had happened. Did my last words to him have the desired effect? In the end, it did not matter, since this allowed me to focus my attention on my studies. Nevertheless, I expected him to show up at the end of the month and when he did not come, I started wandering if there was something wrong on the other side of the well.

After packing everything up and saying my good byes, I left for the Feudal Era. As soon as I reached the other side, my hearing was greeted by the sound of clashing swords. The two half brothers were fighting… again. What a surprise, right? Since the fight was taking place in the vicinity of the well I could only suspect that Sesshoumaru showed up while Inuyasha was on his way to pick me up.

This situation had to stop…

**Thanks for reading, please leave a review if you feel like it. I will continue or not the story based on what you say in your reviews.**


	2. Chapter 2: Looking for Help

**Hello everyone, thank you for reviewing, it helped me decide if I should continue the story or not… so here is the second chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it.**

**Inuyasha does not belong to me (I forgot to mention this in the first chapter).**

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**Italics = thoughts**

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** Chapter 2: Looking for Help**

The Western Palace: Four Days before Kagome's Return

While Lord Sesshoumaru was traveling throughout Japan, Rin suddenly became ill, so he returned to the Western Palace, to have Rin checked by the court physicians. They tried their best, but since they were all youkai and had little to no familiarity to human anatomy or illnesses, they could not do much for their Lord's ward. After all not even the human physicians were aware of the existence of a treatment for Rin's condition. Thus, Rin's state was worsening with every passing hour. Everyone became agitated, there was so much tension and fear floating in the air that one could cut it with a knife. This type of reaction from the part of the youkai that lived in the palace and in its near proximity was to be expected. They all knew that their Lord cared for Rin, despite the fact that he never voiced it or showed it openly…Hence, no one really knew how the Lord of the Western Lands would react if his ward were to die...

As soon as Lord Sesshoumaru received the news that his physicians could not figure out what was wrong with his ward, let alone discover a cure for the illness she was suffering from, his youki started flaring around him. He could not believe that his physicians, who were the best in the entire Japan, could not figure out what was wrong with the girl that he viewed as an adoptive daughter. He could not allow her to die at such a young age! But, what could he do to save her? At this point, his beats started stirring…

_**"You could do something to save her."**_

_ "What is there to do? We don't have the cure… "_

_**"We don't… but someone else might have it… Remember what we saw a few years ago in Inuyasha's Forest?"**_

_"No and stop playing games! Tell me already, so we can save her!"_

_** "Tsk tsk… Is this the right way to treat someone who is trying to help you?"**_

_ "You are me and I am you… so stop playing games."_

_**"Fine… Since you don't seem to remember… let me help you a little. Two years ago we were passing by Inuyasha's Forest when we felt the aura of that miko who is always around the half-breed…"**_

_"Get to the point!"_

_**"My, my… so impatient! I will tell you… but you will be in my debt."**_

_ "Fine."_

_**"The miko jumped into the dry well and her aura disappeared."**_

_"How is that possible?"_

_**"Apparently the well is some sort of portal for a future time."**_

_"Impossible!"_

_**"Impossible or not, that is what our scouts told us,… and they are the best in the field, so I doubt they were lying… You should thank me for my insistence at finding out where the little miko disappeared."**_

_"Shut up already I don't have time for this!"_

_**"Fine… but don't forget. You WILL pay your debt to me, sooner or later." **_

_"Hn."_

As soon as the conversation with his beast ended, he summoned in his office all the scouts that were currently available and ordered them to find out the whereabouts of Inuyasha's group as soon as possible. In less then 12 hours he found out that Inuyasha was at Kaede's village, so he left in hopes of finding the miko… and a cure.

The Day of Kagome's Return

Inuyasha was tired of waiting for Kagome to return, so he decided to go after her… after all, the month was up, thus she would probably not keep good to her word and sit him so hard, that he would have problems walking for at least a few days. However, while he was on his way to the well, Sesshoumaru's smell reached his nose… It was not long before his half-brother entered the clearing in which the well was situated. Apparently, he was intent on entering the village, so Inuyasha drew his sword and attacked him without asking any questions. The two brothers were too focused on their battle to notice the light that came from the well or to see a very angry miko…

_"I can't believe it! These two are at it… AGAIN! When are they going to stop? When Naraku will have destroyed us all? Oh! Wait… By then it will be too late! How do I stop them? Hmm… _ _I guess that since Sesshoumaru is the more mature one it would be easier to get my point through to him… I wonder if he will kill Inuyasha if I sit him in the middle of the battle? I hope not, I hope that he has more honor than that… Anyway, it is now or never!"_

"Inuyasha! SIT BOY!"

When they heard Kagome's voice, Inuyasha plummeted to the earth and Sesshoumaru swiftly turned around… he had finally found the only one he believed to have a cure for his little girl… Once Kagome saw that she had Sesshoumaru's attention and that Inuyasha was out of the way for the time being, she approached the Lord and bowed down to him, in hopes of entering his good graces. When she looked up and saw his mask of impassiveness, she decided that this was a time as good as ever to start speaking. In the end, she never knew what to expect from him…

"Lord Sesshoumaru…"

"Miko, I came to look for you." This simple phrase effectively managed to shut her up, so Sesshoumaru took this opportunity and continued his train of though. "Rin is very sick and in need of your help. I know you are from the future and I thought that you may have a cure that could save her." At hearing this piece of information, Kagome's mouth went agape. All she could think about was how on earth did he find that out. Seeing that she did not speak he continued. "She is running a high fever for three days now and my physicians can't seem to do anything about it. At the beginning, there was only a slight cough, but now her lungs make a strange sound whenever she draws a breath of air… "

"I… I… think it may be pneumonia."

"What kind of sickness is that?"

"I don't have time to explain right now, but all you should know is that without proper treatment she could die. Wait for me here, I will return to my time and bring back the proper medicine." As soon as she finished speaking, she headed to the well and in two hours time she was back with the medicine. "Here it is, but I need to be the one administering it to her since I am the only one who knows how to do it."

"Fine. Pick up that yellow thing you brought back with you. We will head to the West immediately."

"Not so fast! If I am going my friends, including Inuyasha, are coming with me."

"Listen here miko…"

"Are you really in a position in which you can argue? Besides, weren't you in a hurry?"

**To be continued…**

**Leave a review if you feel like it and thanks for reading. I will try to update the story I am currently translating as soon as possible. You might want to take a look at that too…**


	3. Chapter 3: Looking for Help Part 2

**Hello, again! Here is a new chapter from my story. I hope you will enjoy reading it and please review, because I would really like to have some feedback from you.**

**Inuyasha does not belong to me.**

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**Italics = thoughts**

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**Chapter 3: Looking for Help (Part 2) **

Last Time

"Pick up that yellow thing you brought back with you. We will head to the West immediately."

"Not so fast! If I am going, my friends, including Inuyasha, are coming with me."

"Listen here miko…"

"Are you really in a position in which you can argue? Besides, weren't you in a hurry?"

Now

As soon as the last sentence left Kagome's mouth, she started having doubts about the way she had talked to the Lord of the Western Lands. After all, she had learned along the years she spent in the Feudal Era that he never allowed anyone to talk to him that way, and those who did, did not live long enough to tell the story. The fact that he was pinning her with his icy glare did not help either. At this point, the confidence she had a few seconds back had already started to dissipate. She could only hope that he will not kill her for her audacity. Thus, while Kagome was praying for her life to all the deities she knew, Sesshoumaru was also busy with his own thoughts…

_"How dare she talk to this Sesshoumaru in such a way? Has she forgotten what I do to those who do that?"_

_**"She hasn't done any harm. All she asked from us was to take her friends with us."**_

_ "Are you defending her?" _His beast smirked when he heard his master's reply.

_**"No. I am just trying to think of what has happened in a logical way… You could say that I am trying to stop you from doing something you would regret later on. For instance… killing the only person who can cure the girl you consider to be your daughter…"**_

_ "She was disrespectful!"_

_**"But you need her… besides who will know about the disrespect she sowed you… the hanyou is still unconscious."**_

Sesshoumaru growled as soon as he heard his beast's last reply. He knew that his beast was right… he had to spear her life if he wanted to save the life of his little girl, even if he had to make an exception just this once. Kagome's blood froze in her veins as soon as she heard the growl rip from his throat, she thought that he had finally decided to kill her, but to her surprise…

"You may bring your friends too. Wake up the hanyou if you don't want to leave him behind."

"If we are going to leave now, I will go to the village and tell my friends to get ready and only then I will wake up Inuyasha. It would not do if you were to start fighting again."

"For your information _human_… I am not the one who started the fight. The useless half-breed attacked me as soon as he felt my presence."

Kagome stared at him for a few seconds. Since when did he explain anything to anyone? She snapped back from her thoughts when she saw him raise an eyebrow. Right… she had to go to the village and bring her friends with her. By the time Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kagome were entering the clearing occupied by the two half-brothers; Inuyasha had started to stir. Soon after Inuyasha came around and found out what was decided while he was out cold, he started to throw one of his usual tantrums…

"Why did you agree to go with him? Are you in love with the Ice Prince or something?"

"Don't start again… and no I did not accept to go because I have "feelings" for him. Rin is very sick and she needs my help."

"Why do I care? We have shards to hunt!"

"Inuyasha… don't make me say THE word again and leave you behind."

"Feh! One could say you don't care about finding the shards. First, you chose your studies before your duty and now you choose a worthless girl over your duty again. Should I remind you that you are the one who broke the Shikon Jewel and as such gathering the shards is your responsibility and it _should_ be your priority?"

Kagome felt her anger rise with every passing second. She had grown tired of hearing the same story over and over again… Of course, she knew that gathering the shards was her responsibility, but there were also other things that should be taken into consideration. She could not believe that she had once loved Inuyasha. He was so self-centered! How could he not care about the life of the young girl she had come to love in these five years? She could try to understand him when it came to her studies, but… how could she even begin to understand his reaction when it came to saving the life of an innocent being, even if that being was under the protection of the half-brother he hated so much? This was not the man she had once loved… that man was just an illusion, he must have been the figment of her imagination, because no one could change so much in just five years. When Inuyasha finally finished his tirade, Kagome snapped…

"SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT!..."

"Lady Kagome, maybe you should take pity of Inuyasha, after all you know how brash he is. I think you sat him enough, he is not moving anymore."

"Fine. Let's go."

"Aren't we taking him with us Lady Kagome? We could put him on Kirara."

"No. Let him be. He knows where to find us. Maybe he will learn something from this, although I highly doubt it… Lord Sesshoumaru, do you know of a way we could reach Rin faster?"

After hearing the question, the Lord of the West retreated to his thoughts again. He was debating whether to let them ride him or not. The mere though of doing so disgusted him… having humans ride _him_… the most feared youkai amongst his race. Nevertheless, saving Rin was more important at this point, than his likes or dislikes, so without answering the miko's question he transformed into his dog form and waited for them to climb on him. The last one to climb was Kagome. As soon as she was settled down Sesshoumaru heard a strange reaction from his beast… he started growling softly… as if he was pleased by something. Sesshoumaru did not understand his beast's reaction, neither did he know what had triggered it, but he swore to himself that he would find out sooner or later.

**To be continued.**


	4. Chapter 4: An Attempt at Armistice

**Hello everyone! Here is yet another chapter, which I hope you'll enjoy and as usual Inuyasha does not belong to me.**

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**Italics = thoughts**

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** Chapter 4: An Attempt at Armistice**

When they were almost above the Western Palace, Kagome's mouth fell agape at what she saw. She never expected to see such a beautiful palace. However, the flourishing town that was situated in its near vicinity immediately captured her fascination. From its looks, it was obvious that the lord of the Western Lands did a very good job at keeping it prosperous.

As they were flying over the town, the inhabitants looked up to see their lord returning to the castle after leaving in a hurry only a few hours back. They all hoped that for everyone's well-being he had found someone who could cure the little human who was in his care.

As soon as they were above the castle, Kagome's attention returned to the matter at hand. She thought to herself that she would have enough time to visit the town and its market after she cured Rin. In a matter of seconds, Sesshoumaru landed in the interior courtyard of the castle and when they climbed down he swiftly reverted to his humanoid form and led them inside. A few servants were waiting for him at the door, he quickly told them to prepare the guest chambers for the humans, and to prepare the chamber next to Rin's for Kagome. After giving the orders, he took Kagome to see Rin.

Two weeks have come and gone… Rin was all better now, and Kagome had finally managed to visit the town and like any woman, she was fascinated by the market. She also made several tours of the palace both during the period in which Rin was sick and after her health improved. During the tours she hoped that at some point she would met Sesshoumaru, but that did not happen. Apparently, he spent all his time locked in his office. Moreover, she wondered why he did not come to visit Rin. Did he not care if his ward's health was improving? It made no sense, since he came all the way to Kaede's village and even fought Inuyasha for no reason what so ever just to find someone to save her. From her point of view, he cared a great deal for the little girl, but then the question remains… why did he not visit her? What she did not know is that he did visit his ward, but it was during the time that she was not around. He was always careful when it came to avoiding her… In the end, she got tired of waiting for a chance to talk to Sesshoumaru, so she started wandering through the palace halls in an attempt at finding his office. A couple of hours went by and there were no results, which made her rethink her plan. After a few minutes of thinking things through, she thought that asking one of the servants for the whereabouts of the famous office would do just fine, so she started walking again in hopes of finding one. After fifteen minutes she finally came across a servant, but her happiness was short lived when she found out that she needed an appointment in order to be able to see the Western Lord and that the one who made the appointments was no other than… Jaken. Although she was crestfallen because of the news, she decided that she would not give up until the Lord of the West heard what she had to say, so she went to look for Jaken…

"What do you want?"

"I heard that in order to see Lord Sesshoumaru, one needed an appointment and that you were the right person to talk to."

"So?"

"So… I want an appointment."

"You? An appointment? Why would Lord Sesshoumaru bother with the likes of you, filthy human?"

"Excuse me? I am just doing what everyone around here does in order to get an audience with the Lord of the West, and if I remember correctly I didn't insult you so I expect the same from you or haven't you learned that if someone treats you with respect you should do the same?..."

"How dare you talk to me like…"

"I dare because I would have thought that you had learned something in the hundreds of years you've been roaming the Earth. You haven't shown me the minimum of respect ever since I approached you and excuse me if I talk to you in this _manner_ but I happen to think that I'm doing you a favor… You should take notes, who knows maybe you'll need them in the future? After all you aren't very good when it comes to dealing with people." After hearing all this, Jaken was shocked into silence, so Kagome continued with her tirade. "Don't worry, this filthy human has no intention of robbing you of any more of your precious time _Master _Jaken." Having said this, she turned around and headed for Rin's chamber. If she did not manage to get an audience in the old-fashioned way, then she will obtain it another way. As she was walking towards Rin, a plan started forming in her mind…

"Rin! I'm so glad you are awake. You know… I thought that Lord Sesshoumaru would be happy to see you up and about; this would show him that your health has greatly improved. After all, he did not come to visit you even once in these two weeks… he probably was too busy…" Rin's face was laced with confusion at hearing these words, so she interrupted Kagome immediately…

"Oh, no! You're wrong Kagome. He did come to see me, but he came only when you were not around." Kagome was shocked when she heard this; she could not help but feel it to be strange… she even thought that he might have been avoiding her all this time… She had to think of something to convince Rin to do her bidding, but what? Then, she finally said…

"Well, I still think that he would be glad to see you out of bed. This would show him that you are indeed better. How about a visit?"

"A visit?"

"Yes, we should go to his office and say hello, what do you say?"

"Hmm… I see no harm to it, and I guess you are right, after all I haven't left my room in two weeks."

Kagome was glad to hear this; she would finally get the chance to speak to him. Thus, as soon as Rin agreed, Kagome told her to take them to Sesshoumaru's office. She was not surprised by the fact that it took them quite some to reach his office, since the labyrinth they called a palace was huge. In fact, it was the biggest one she had ever seen and she wandered about what happened to it, because she could not remember to have visited anything like it in modern Japan… although this intrigued her, she did not pay much attention to it, since what she had planned to do right now was more important. As soon as they reached the shoji door of Sesshoumaru's office, Rin knocked once and enter without waiting for a reply from the person inside the room. Sesshoumaru was so concentrated at what he was reading that he barely heard the knock, and much less felt Rin's smell. He raised his head only when he heard the shoji door of his office slide open. He was pleasantly surprised when he saw Rin enter his office. This meant that she felt much better; after all, the walk from her chamber to his office was a long. However, he did not expect to see Kagome enter after his ward. The instant he saw her, his expression, that had softened as soon as he saw Rin, had become ice-cold and unreadable. He exchanged a few words with Rin, after which she took her leave, having in mind to go to the gardens and spend some time with the flowers she missed so much in these two weeks. When he saw Rin walking to the door, he returned to his work, completely ignoring Kagome. The minutes passed and he could still feel Kagome's presence in his office, which made him pinpoint her with an cold and irritated glare…

"Aren't you going to leave?"

"No. I wanted to talk to you two weeks ago but you interrupted me when you stared telling me about Rin's condition."

"I don't have time for you." It was at this particular moment that Sesshoumaru's beast chose to express his point of view… again…

"_**See! I told you to go and talk to her. She had something to tell us. Maybe it was something important."**_

"_Important? I doubt that a human knows anything that would be of interest to this Sesshoumaru."_

"_**You haven't even heard what she has to say and you already decided that it isn't important. Just out of curiosity… Are you really not interested in what she has to say or are you just avoiding her?"**_

"_Of course I am not interested, besides why would I avoid her?"_

"_**Well… maybe you like her smell and her presence more than you would like to admit?"**_

"_Stop saying idiocies! I would NEVER be interested in a pathetic human! And now SHUT UP already!"___

Kagome watched Sesshoumaru with interest during his little conversation with his beast. She found it strange that after he dismissed her; he remained staring at her for almost two minutes without saying anything to her obvious refusal to leave his office. Nevertheless, when his eyes regained their focus and he saw that she was still there, he wanted to say something, but she beat him to it.

"I am not leaving until you hear me out… Let me finish, please. I know that I was supposed to have an appointment in order to be able to see you but I could not obtain it, so I decided that the best course of action was to accompany Rin… What I wanted to talk to you about, in the clearing two weeks ago is related to Naraku."

_**"See! Didn't I tell you that it MAY have been important?" **_This time around, Sesshoumaru decided to ignore his beast and listen to what Kagome had to say.

"I am sure you have noticed by now that Naraku always gets away whenever you and Inuyasha fight each other over who should be the one to fight Naraku… which is ALL the time. The worst part of this is that whenever he gets away he returns ten times stronger than the last time. You and Inuyasha should really do something about your relationship… I am not saying that you should start acting like two brothers who love each other. What I am trying to say, though, is that you should learn to tolerate each other for everyone's well-being."

_**"Tolerate!? Tolerate that disrespectful mongrel? Never!"**_

Although his beast interfered again, he was not irritated by it. In fact, he could not have agreed more. At this point, Kagome felt that she was about to receive a very negative response from him, so she decided that it was time to praise him…__

"I am telling you this because I know that I cannot count on Inuyasha, since he is so immature. Moreover, I came to you because I know you are very mature and level-headed. I have also thought of a plan… In order to come to tolerate each other, you should spend more time together…"

As soon as he heard this, Sesshoumaru started growling in a very dangerous and threatening way, so Kagome decided that she should finish telling him her plan and leave the office as soon as possible.

"What I had in mind was to join our groups. We are both hunting for Naraku and I think that we would be more efficient if we did it together… Nevertheless, it is just a proposition. All I ask of you is to think it through and to analyze the situation. We will be leaving tomorrow in the morning, but you know how to find us, if you decide that my plan was a good one."

The instant she finished talking, Kagome left Sesshoumaru's office in a hurry. She could tell that the mere thought of tolerating Inuyasha or of being around him for long periods of time, greatly irritated him. In fact, she could not remember ever seeing him in such a state, except when Rin's life was in danger.

**To be continued…**

**I have a favor to ask you guys… I would like it very much if each of you could propose at least 4 male Japanese names. The ones that I'll consider to be fit for the characters I'm thinking of introducing in the next chapter, will obviously appear in the text. If you do not propose the names, I'm sorry to tell you but there will probably not be a next chapter for **_**quite**_** some time. (I'm very indecisive when it comes to some things and unfortunately choosing names for new characters seems to be amongst those things…. So I thought that if my options were somewhat limited I would work a lot faster… You get the point, right? I also intend to give credit to the persons' whose names proposal I'll decide to use. So PLEASE help me out.) **


	5. Chapter 5: An Attempt at Armistice 2

**Hello, here is another chapter of my story. Inuyasha does not belong to me. **

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**Italics = thoughts**

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**Chapter 5: An Attempt at Armistice (Part 2) **

After Kagome ran out of Sesshoumaru's office, she went off to find Rin. She was glad when she saw the young girl walking around on her own. She even seemed to have regained the color in her cheeks. The day after her talk with Sesshoumaru, Kagome saw that Rin had finally regained her forces after her visit to the garden. Apparently, all she needed in order to get her forces back, was a breath of fresh air and a long walk in the sun light.

Kagome was happy to see Rin up and about, not only because she loved the girl, but also because this meant that she could return to her most pressing duty. After all, it was high time to start again, since she had already postponed it for one month and a half. Thus, she decided to announce her friends that they were to leave as soon as possible. When everyone was ready, she told one of the servants to go and announce Rin that they were leaving, so that she could come and say good-bye to everyone. As soon as they said their good-byes, they set on their way. Once they were out of the palace doors, Miroku's curiosity got the better of him…

"Lady Kagome… how come you sent the servant to announce only Rin that we were leaving? Why didn't you send word to the Lord as well?"

"Well, yesterday we had a… talk… Let's just say that he needs some time to cool off. Besides, I doubt he will miss us, don't you think? After all, he isn't very fond of humans," Kagome finished with a small smile playing on her lips. After this, Miroku's curiosity was somewhat satisfied and he did not ask other questions, since Kagome did not seem to be in a very talkative mood when the subject of Sesshoumaru was touched.

An hour had gone by since they left the palace. By this time, they were already at the outskirts of the town and about to enter the forest, when an upset hanyou approached them…

"Keh… You have finally decided to leave that palace."

"You've been in the forest for two weeks?"

"Yes. You can't really expect me to live under the same roof as that bastard!"

"For crying out loud! Just grow up already! You can't keep this hate alive for an eternity. You are half brothers, so you should try to get along with him."

"Never!"

"Why don't you at least try? Don't you think that if he had wanted to kill you or take your sword by now, he would have done so?"

"Keh! He is no match for me. He couldn't even take Tetsaiga away from me…"

"In fact, he _gave up_ on Tetsaiga because he realized you needed it more than him; and let's be serious, he could have killed all of us by now, had he been serious about his attacks."

"Really? I need Tetsaiga more than him? How so?"

"_Oh oh! This is not good. DAMN IT Kagome, think before you open your mouth! Now what on earth do I tell him?"_

"Oi! Wench! Have you turned deaf or what? Stop staring at me and answer the question!"

"What I meant is… is that you need it to defend yourself from demons that are more powerful than you. Think about it… you could not fight them with your bare hands, since you have no poison under your nails or a poisonous whip or anything of the kind, which means that it would be very difficult for you to create some real damage, _and_ here is where Tetsaiga comes in. Look, what I want to say is that you should try to behave yourself around him, since he has obviously made the first step towards an armistice by giving up the sword…"

"A sword which is rightfully mine!"

"Did you hear anything from what I said? Listen to me when I talk to you! He gave up your sword, so you could at least stop attacking him whenever our paths cross! I don't say you should even look at him or talk to him, just ignore him. I don't think it is _that_ hard."

"Whatever, wench. You sound like a scolding mother."

"Well, if this is what it takes to help you mature, then I'll do it, I'll be the scolding and annoying mother... just grow up already."

After the conversation came to an end, they continued their trip, although it was in an unsurprisingly quite manner. By now, not even one member of the group found the situation even slightly hilarious. They had all grown tired of it, even Shippo, who was but a child, seemed to be more mature than Inuyasha. He seemed to be just as upset at the consequences of Inuyasha's actions as the rest of the group.

Time went by just as slowly as their luck in finding shards. However, the one thing they did not lack in, were the demon attacks. Apparently, Naraku was sending demons to attack them once every three or four days. This contributed only to the increase of tension inside the group, because it only added to Inuyasha's comments related to Kagome's uselessness as a shard detector…

A month had already gone by since Kagome left Sesshoumaru's palace and there was still no sign of him. She had hoped that the talk she had with him would eventually help him decide to join the group. Now, she realized that maybe the mere prospect of being able to cause some damage to Naraku might not have been enough. Nevertheless, she still held on to the little bit of hope that he might show up any time.

The day had gone by just like the others before… with little luck in finding shards. In the evening, the group decided to settle down for the night near a hot spring. After they set up camp and had a fire going, the girls and Shippo decided to go and take a bath, while Inuyasha and Miroku were off hunting. Miroku went hunting, because they could not trust him to stay alone in the camp, just in case he had the brilliant idea of going to spy on the girls once he was left alone.

Some fifteen minutes after everyone left to go about their business, five men entered the camp…

**To be continued….**

**I hope you enjoyed it.**


	6. Chapter 6: Unexpected Guests

**Hello everyone! Here is a new chapter of my story, which I hope you'll enjoy. As usual, Inuyasha does not belong to me. ****Furthermore, I would like to use this way to thank both ****llebreknit**** and ****Silent Uke Fuu**** for their name suggestions for the new characters****. **_**Haruki**_ **and** _**Kaito**_ **belong to ****llebreknit****, while**_**Tsukiya**_ **and** _**Hiro**_ **belong to ****Silent Uke Fuu.**

…**.**

** Chapter 6: Unexpected Guests **

Last Time

Some fifteen minutes after everyone left to go about their business, five men entered the camp…

Now

The unknown men, who entered the camp of the Inu tachi, seemed to do so with caution. It was as if they were expecting a surprise attack at any moment. As soon as they set foot into camp, they looked suspiciously at all the bushes and trees that were big enough to hide a full-grown human. Their body stances relaxed the instant they saw that there was no one there. The men settled around the blazing fire, as if they had in mind to wait for the travelers who set up the camp to make their appearance. Some thirty minutes had gone by and no one showed up, but the men were still there waiting patiently. During the time they had been waiting for the owners of the objects scattered across the clearing, four of the men took an interest in them. Only one seemed to be unaffected at the sight of such strange things. The four men looked at them with a renewed curiosity, that only a small child was capable of showing, when he came across something he had never seen before. Nevertheless, unlike children, who have the urge to touch everything they are interested in, the men just looked at them without touching. They probably refrained from doing so, out of respect for the owners.

Shortly after the thirty minutes passed, Inuyasha and Miroku returned to camp with their game. It is needless to say, that they were shocked by the sight that met their eyes once they entered the camp. After the shock of the first impression had somewhat subsided, Inuyasha did the only thing he does best, namely he started screaming profanities at the five men. Even though he tried to make it seem that the profanities were directed to the five of them, it was quite obvious to everyone present that they were directed to one man in particular… Sesshoumaru.

The girls were relaxing in the hot spring when they heard people arguing, or better said, a certain hanyou screaming his lungs out. Although Kagome could not make out everything that was said, what she could understand was enough to tell her that the visit she was looking forward to had arrived. The mere thought that her plans stood a chance now that Sesshoumaru had decided to come, made her forget about her plans of looking like a dry plum after she finished her bath. She quickly got out of the spring, dried off and left for the camp. Once she entered it, she was surprised to see that Sesshoumaru did not come alone. He was accompanied by other four demons, who were almost as strong as him. She could feel the power they emanated and the first thought that popped into her mind was that you did not want to get these four demons angry. Then… she realized something… that was exactly what Inuyasha was doing. He was angering them by talking the way he did to his elder half-brother; he was being disrespectful in every possible way. She could feel their anger rising although they did not show it, and their anger was not the only one rising, their power started to fluctuate around them. Kagome realized that she needed to do something fast if she wanted to avoid a confrontation, so she did the only think she could in order to make Inuyasha shut up…

"SIIIIT!"

As soon as Inuyasha plummeted to the ground and was rendered unconscious, Kagome started thinking of a way that would help appease the spirits of the demons. She could not find any, so she decided that the only thing she could do, was talk to them and hope that she will be able to distract their attention from Inuyasha's words.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, welcome. I am sorry for what Inuyasha said; I beg all of you not to mind his words, he is always like this."

"It's alright. There is no need for you to ask for forgiveness. You aren't the one who uttered those words", said one of the men who accompanied Sesshoumaru.

Kagome was surprised when she heard the deep voice of the demon. What surprised her even more, was that after she apologized in Inuyasha's place, their powers begun to diminish. They probably realized that she was a miko and that their power bothered her, even if she did not show it. After starring a little bit at the demon who spoke, she woke up from her reverie…

"I'm so sorry… I didn't present myself. Lord Sesshoumaru already knows me as you might have noticed, but since you don't know me… My name is Kagome."

The demon who spoke before, spoke again…

"My name is Haruki, the one from my right is Hiro, the demon from my left is Tsukiya, and the one besides Lord Sesshoumaru is Kaito. We are four of the strongest generals that serve under Lord Sesshoumaru."

"Pleased to meet you… Oh, I forgot to present one of my friends… His name is Miroku and he is a monk. Miroku is the only man of our group, besides Inuyasha. There are also Sango, a demon slayer, and a small demon kitsune called Shippo, whom I take care of as if he were my son." Kagome said with a small smile on her lips. "The last two are currently taking a bath in the nearby hot spring."

After the presentations were made, Kagome's eyes fell on the game Miroku and Inuyasha brought back. She was undecided of what to do with it, how to cook it in order to be enough for all of them, since now there were five more mouths to feed. Haruki felt her distress, and followed the direction of her gaze. As soon as his eyes fell on the game brought back by Inuyasha and Miroku, he immediately realized what her dilemma was and decided to appease her worries…

"There is no need to worry about food, we can go and hunt more animals so you don't need to worry on how to divide the three rabbits among all of us."

"We don't need to hunt for anything. We don't eat human food." Hiro replied with a bored tone.

"It is true what Hiro says," Haruki quickly replied, "but we _can_ eat human food. The only difference is that for us it is not as nourishing as it is for you. However, we _will_ eat human food for as long as we travel with you. But, there will be times when we will have to eat what we usually eat in order to keep our strength."

"And… if you don't mind me asking… what is it that you usually eat?" Kagome asked before anyone else could say anything.

"Kagome… I think you are better off not knowing… After all, humans feel rather disgusted by the mere thought," answered Haruki with a small smile on his lips.

After the small exchange between Haruki and Kagome, Kaito and Hiro could not hide their irritation anymore. The thought of having to eat human food irritated them, but the mere idea of hunting for more food just to appease a human's distress, angered them to no end. They could not believe what Haruki just did. How could he speak in everyone's name? He had no right to take such a decision and why didn't their Lord say anything? Wasn't he bothered that he had to eat human food? What was wrong with them? They were _demons_ for crying out loud! Since when did they comply just so as not to hurt a human's feelings?

"We won't hunt for anything! We _refuse_ to eat human food!" Kaito and Hiro burst in unison.

"I find it humiliating! I have never eaten human food and I don't intend to start now!" continued Hiro with a disgusted expression on his face.

"If you desire so much to know what we eat …" said Kaito with a look of hate on his face "we eat raw meat. There, your curiosity was satisfied."

"Enough!" after having observed the exchange between his fellow generals and the human girl named Kagome, Tsukiya had finally decided to interfere before anyone of those present could react. "The only one who will decide what we will do with regards to the food we consume is Lord Sesshoumaru."

Kagome came back to her senses after Tsukiya's interference. She was shocked when she found out that youkai eat row meat. She never expected to hear something like this, but she soon realized that if she did not say anything a conflict might arise between the five demons… So, before Sesshoumaru could say anything, Kagome decided to clarify things a little bit.

"I am sorry if I offended you by wanting to serve you human food… It is just that I did not know that you ate raw meat. My sole intention was to make you feel welcome. There is no need for you to eat human food if you do not want to…"

"Stop apologizing." Sesshoumaru interfered before she could say anything else. "You couldn't have known that we eat raw meat, very few humans know this… As for what we will eat for as long as we will accompany you, is for each and every one of us to decide. Those of us who want to eat human food and raw meat at the same time they can do so… if not they can eat only raw meat, it does not matter. These are just details. Let us not forget that we are here to kill Naraku. Is that understood?"

The four generals nodded and Haruki went to hunt for two more rabbits. He thought that he could try human food just this once, in order to make Kagome feel more at ease. He could not explain it but he felt that he needed to make her feel more comfortable around them, or at least around him. He felt an unusual attraction towards her, though he could not explain the reason behind it…

**To be continued…**

**Thanks for reading.**


	7. Chapter 7: Explanations

**Hello again and thank you for reading and reviewing / reading my story. **

**Inuyasha does not belong to me.**

…**.**

**Chapter 7: Explanations**

Last Time

Haruki went to hunt for two more rabbits. He thought that he could try human food just this once, in order to make Kagome feel more at ease. He could not explain it but he felt that he needed to make her feel more comfortable around them, or at least around him. He felt an unusual attraction towards her, though he could not explain the reason behind it…

Now

In less then half an hour Haruki returned with two cleaned rabbits and Kagome immediately set to prepare the food. While the food was cooking the two missing members of the group returned. It is needless to say, that they were quite surprised to see Sesshoumaru and four unknown demons in their camp. However, they were not surprised to see a sulking Inuyasha in a tree. After saying hello, Sango and Shippo headed towards Kagome to find out what was happening.

"I see you have finished your bath," said a smiling Kagome.

"Yes…ummm… what is happening here?"

"Well, as you can see, Sango, we have guests or better said permanent guests."

"Permanent… guests?"

"Yes, Sesshoumaru and his four generals are going to stay with us until we find all the Shikon shards and kill Naraku… I guess I should make the presentations." Having said this, Kagome got up from her place besides the fire and went to the group of demons that was gathered somewhere at the edge of the clearing, in the opposite direction of the sulking hanyou. From their position, it was obvious that they were trying to avoid the humans or maybe just Inuyasha.

"I am sorry to bother you, but I thought that even though I have told you about our two other members, I should make the formal presentations. So… this is Sango, the demon slayer, and this is Shippo, the fox demon." After presenting her two companions to the new group, she pointed her hand to each demon… "These are Tsukiya, Hiro, Kaito, and Haruki." After making the presentations, Kagome returned to her place besides the fire, in order to make sure she will not burn the food. Nevertheless, the vague explanations Kagome had given up to this point, did not satisfy Sango, so she and Shippo followed her…

"Care to explain?"

"Explain what? I told you already."

"Told me already…. Ok, so you want me to believe that Sesshoumaru decided out of nowhere to join our group… and he would do this because…. he likes Inuyasha so much? You want me to believe that you had nothing to do with it? I know you had a plan in mind when you ran to cure Rin, but I did not know what…."

"Ok," Kagome cut Sango short, "you want an answer you'll have it. We all know what the consequences of the 'little' strife between Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru are. If not let me remind you… Naraku has escaped every time because those two fight, so that the winner can fight Naraku AND lets not forget a tiny detail… every time Naraku has come back stronger. If you are going to have a similar reaction to Inuyasha's, because of my idea of Sesshoumaru joining our group, you can go and sulk under the tree he is currently in…"

"Hold your horses," Sango felt Kagome's aggression and had to stop her before she said anything she would regret. "I was asking out of curiosity, not to condemn you. I'm sorry I forced you to talk about it now. I can see that Inuyasha has upset you as usual. I should have waited until tomorrow to ask questions."

"It's alright, Sango. I'm sorry I snapped at you. It is not your fault that Inuyasha is so childish and does not want to understand the reasons behind my decision of asking Sesshoumaru to join the group; it is just that your questioning made me loose my temper."

"This is why you left in a hurry?"

"Yes, I suspected that Sesshoumaru had finally decided to come and I could not let Inuyasha ruin everything…"

"Wait, wait… you said that he had finally decided to come?"

"Yes… when I talked to him I said that it was his decision if he wanted to join or not. Frankly, I did not believe he would come… if you had seen him the morning I talked to him… I was afraid to be in the same office with him. Don't misunderstand me, he did not attack me physically or verbally. It's just that… his reaction to the mere idea of spending time with Inuyasha… you simply cannot imagine it... I thought he would transform in his dog form then and there. That is why I could not let Inuyasha spoil my plan and consequently decrease our chances of beating Naraku."

"I see, but you did not tell me anything. Do you not trust me?"

"I do trust you but I could not risk to be overheard by anyone, especially Inuyasha. I'm sorry. I hope you will forgive me for keeping this from you. You know how I feel about all of you… I would never do anything to hurt you, at least not intentionally."

Sango smiled at this and hugged Kagome, while saying "Don't worry, I do understand you and forgive you for keeping it from me. I am just sorry I was not here for you when all hell broke lose."

When Sango understood what had happened, she sat down besides Kagome and took Shippo in her lap. She kept talking to her friend about nothing in particular; her sole purpose was to keep Kagome company and sooth her already fried nerves. As soon as the food was ready, Kagome started pouring the stew in bawls and serving her friends. Of course, Inuyasha was so upset that he refused to take anything that came from Kagome's hands, so she let him be, thinking that he would eat something latter on. After serving Shippo, Sango, and Miroku, she headed to the lone group and offered a bowl of stew to Sesshoumaru, since he was the alpha of the group. Although, Kagome expected a rejection, he surprised her by accepting her offering and nodded his head in thanks. After serving Sesshoumaru, she went to retrieve another bowl of food, which she offered to Haruki, and then went to eat herself.

"Aren't you going to serve us too?" she heard the baritone voice of Hiro.

"But I though you did not want to eat human food," answered Kagome in a tired voice.

"We've changed our mind," Kaito quickly jumped in.

"In this case you can help yourselves. I guess it's only fair after the fuss you've made about eating human food; and don't look at me like that. If you keep behaving as you did up until now, then expect to be treated accordingly."

"Look here girl…"

"Don't talk to me like that! I am not your servant. You will help yourselves if you want to eat, if not starve.

"Listen girl…" said Kaito in a threatening tone.

"Keep patronizing me and I will purify you." Kagome answered in an equally threatening tone. "As I said before, if you want to eat you will help yourselves, because the food won't come on its own to you."

Haruki could barely hold in his laughter at the last part, while Sesshoumaru only smirked. This reaction from the part of their companions clearly upset the two demons and most certainly, Kagome's answers to their demands damaged their pride a little. Nonetheless, when the two demons saw that they would not get their way, they got up from their comfortable positions and served themselves. Their faces said everything, it was clear that they were not used to being disobeyed, but to their surprise, they liked the fact that a mere human girl was not afraid to stand her ground. The future would prove to be a very interesting one.

**To be continued...**

**I hope you enjoyed it.  
**


	8. Chapter 8: Reflections

**Inuyasha does not belong to me. Thank you for reading / reading and reviewing. **

**Italics = Thoughts**

_***Italics***_** = Memories**

…**..**

**Chapter 8: Reflections **

Everybody went to sleep a short while after eating, well… maybe not everybody. Inuyasha did not seem to be able to sleep. He was thinking of what had happened during the day.

"_I can't believe I'll have to travel with that bastard! Is Kagome trying to get back at me for all the times I've went off to see Kikyo? This is simply not fair! Why do I have to go through this? Moreover, only when I think of all the things she said when she returned to camp and caught me screaming profanities at Sesshoumaru…."_

_*****"Enough, Inuyasha! Sesshoumaru did NOT come of his own accord. It is because of my proposition that he is here. I talked to him and asked him to join the group…"_

"_Why? We don't need this stuck up ice prick! I can fight Naraku very well on my own, I…"_

"_That's just it! You fail to understand that THIS is not about you or me or Miroku or Sango or Shippo… it is about OUR future, EVERYONE's future. How many times have I asked you to stop fighting Sesshoumaru and start fighting besides him? Did you ever listen to me? NO! Why would you? After all, your pride is more important than ANYTHING else. To you, it does not matter that because of your continuous fights with Sesshoumaru, Naraku has gotten away every time and returned tenfold stronger then before. All you care about is that you should be the one to beat Naraku. Well, WAKE UP already, this is not about your stupid vengeance any more. This issue has taken bigger proportions. If we don't STOP Naraku NOW, we may not have a future! We need Sesshoumaru…"_

_Inuyasha was reduced to silence, until he heard the name 'Sesshoumaru'…_

"_We don't need him! __**I**__ don't need that arrogant bastard! How could you take decisions on your own, without asking me first!?Why did you talk to him about this and not ME? I AM your alpha! I AM…"_

"_Why did I go to him? Why didn't I talk to you? Do you hear yourself? I CANNOT talk to you! You don't even bother to understand half of the words I say! God! What am I saying? Understand!? You don't even hear what I'm saying when I talk to you! I have been dropping hints during the last three years that you should stop fighting Sesshoumaru. I have told you in the last two years in a direct way… or at least, to me it seemed direct… that you should stop fighting Sesshoumaru every time Naraku is in our near vicinity and I also told you the reason for which you should do this, but it was useless. You ask me __**why**__ I went to talk to __**him**__? What do you think?... Come on! SPEAK!"_

"_You are defending him because you are obviously in love with him!"_

_Kagome looked dumbfounded at Inuyasha after hearing this response. She could not believe here ears… after everything she said this is all he __**understood**__? _

"_So… this is the conclusion you've reached after hearing everything I have said… I don't know if I should be surprised or disappointed. You say that I am defending Sesshoumaru. Let me ask you something… Does he look like someone who needs to be defended? If he had wanted to, he would have wiped the floor with you by now with one hand tide behind his back. I would say that he has been quite considerate with you up until now…"_

"_Wench…"_

"_Don't start," answered Kagome in a tired voice, "don't start if you don't want me to use the word. You ask why I went to him? Well… the answer is very simple… I can TALK to him. Why? Because he does something, you don't. What? He LISTENS. I preferred to talk to him after countless failed attempts of talking to you, because he proved to be the mature one."_

"_Pff… the mature one? Any proof?"_

"_Proof to the fact that he is mature? Well, let us see… He has been the Lord of the Western Lands for what? Two centuries or more? He kept his anger in check every time he came across you, which does not show only his maturity in thinking but also his great capacity of restraining his anger. Because, trust me, when I tell you, people NEED a great deal of patience to deal with you. Do you want to hear more?... No? Ok, then. I have a suggestion for you… in fact two. The first one, grow up and the second one, get used to his presence, because he is staying and you are staying too, like it or not. He came here in order for the two of you to get used to each other's presence, which will hopefully lead to the two of you being civil to each other. Oh, no… my mistake… hopefully you will be able to keep your anger in check just like Sesshoumaru is doing right now. After all, YOU are the one who needs to learn how to be civil. If we are done I would very much like to start cooking, because it's getting late and I am sick and tired of dealing with your childish nature."***** _

Apparently, Kagome's words had given him food for thought. Nevertheless, was it enough to make him see his mistakes? Will he change his behavior towards the entire group? Will he decide to finally mature or just maintain his old attitude towards everything and everyone?

**To be continued…**

**Thank you for reading and I hoped you enjoyed it.**


	9. Chapter 9: A New Day Begins

**Inuyasha does not belong to me. **

**I use this way to thank ****nightmareofcat**** for the idea of making the four generals different types of demons.**

**Italics = thoughts**

…**.**

**Chapter 9: A New Day Begins**

Inuyasha spent the entire night going through everything that Kagome said to him. He went over the conversation countless time, only to end up wondering if she was right. In the beginning, he though that she had something against him or that she may be in love with his half-brother; but then he started questioning these convictions. He started wandering if she was right when she kept says that he is immature, that he is too focused on his own vengeance in order to see the big picture. He wandered if he had finally managed to drive her away from him through his actions. Among these questions, he managed to grasp a truth that hurt him... Kagome had gone to ask for Sesshoumaru's help instead of his… In fact, she had tried to talk to him about this problem for a few years now, so he could not really blame her. He realized that unlike him, Sesshoumaru listened to her and not just that, he decided to do something about it. He decided to take the first step that hopefully would solve the problem. Unlike him, Sesshoumaru did something for everyone's wellbeing, well… maybe he did it more for his own future, but at least he seemed to be willing to do something.

Lost in his thoughts, Inuyasha did not even notice when the morning came. He was brought back to reality by the smell of the ramen Kagome was preparing. When the ramen was ready, Kagome repeated the same routine as the night before, but this time everyone accepted the bowls of food. Moreover, since the demons had nor eaten or seen something similar before, they were really curios as to how it would taste.

After a silent breakfast, they gathered their things and set for a new journey, which was equally silent. This atmosphere became unbearable for Kagome, so she decided to strike a conversation…

"Thank you for trying to keep your distance and not provoke Inuyasha the day before."

"There is no need to thank us, miko. I know how immature my half-brother is. If I want to make your plan work, then I'll need to restrain the impulse of beating some sense into him."

Kagome was reduced to silence with this answer. He told her indirectly that he was not in a very talkative mood, but then again when was he ever in such a mood. Seeing that there was no way for her to have a conversation with Sesshoumaru, she decided to attempt to begin a conversation with Haruki…

"So… Haruki… I have noticed that you are not a dog demon. What kind of demon are you?"

Haruki smiled both at her question and at her attempt of talking to him. He was pleased that she had the courage to address him, thus in order to encourage her to talk to him, he tried to make his voice as pleasant and as warm as he could in comparison to the bored and ice-clod tone of Sesshoumaru's voice…

"Well I am a Eurasian lynx," he ended with a smile.

Kagome expected more, but he stopped here. She got the feeling that he did not stop because he did not want to tell her more, but due to he wanted her to have a subject on which to cling on in their conversation. This suited her just fine, since she did not know how to engage him in a conversation without offending or angering him. She was glad that he approved of the subject she chose by smiling.

"Then, where are you from?"

"Europe. I come from an aristocratic family and since I was the second son, I could inherit only the family name and rank."

"So you started wandering the world until you came to Japan?"

"Yes… I found a second home here, at the side of Lord Sesshoumaru," he ended with another smile.

Before Kagome or Haruki could add anything else to their attempt of a conversation, Tsukiya jumped in too. It was the first time he did something like this, which did not attract just Kagome's attention, but everyone else's too, especially Sesshoumaru's. He knew that Tsukiya only spoke when he felt compelled by the situation and Sesshoumaru was sure that this was not the case. Tsukiya's behavior towards Kagome raised some questions in Sesshoumaru's mind, especially in his beast's mind, but he decided to ignore everything that had to do with the current conversation, classifying it as useless.

"I, on the other hand, am a chameleon demon and I come from South America."

"Why did you leave your homeland?"

"Well, Kagome, I wanted to see the world. There is no special story behind my decision… I just got bored of my home and decided to wander in hopes that I will find a place to call my own."

"Apparently, you found your place besides Sesshoumaru."

"Yes, although I had to prove myself in order to become his general. At the beginning, I was a mere soldier, then I became a scout, and finally… here I am," finished Tsukiya with a small smile on his lips.

The fact that Tsukiya had become so talkative all of a sudden around Kagome surprised the other demons, but the fact that he smiled at her, made them stop dead in their track, Sesshoumaru being the exception. He did not notice that everyone had stopped, so he kept following Inuyasha, who was at the front of the group. As the seconds went by, he finally noticed that the others had stopped. When he turned around and saw the surprised looks on the faces of Hiro, Kaito, and Haruki and the confused looks on the faces of their human companions, he realized that something important had happened and he missed it because he considered that the conversation was not worthy of his attention. He tried to see past the expressions of his generals, but he did not manage to understand anything besides the fact that the one who caused the commotion was Tsukiya, since he was the only one with a bored expression plastered on his face. Kagome had noticed the change in the atmosphere and could not stand the tension any more, so she was the first one to break the silence.

"What!? Why are you all acting so strange?"

"They are shocked, because I never speak unless I am asked something or if a certain situation compels me to do so."

"Seriously!? You are making such a big fuss over this?"

"If he talks to you… it means that he has taken an interest in you," answered Kaito, for the first time in a voice devoid of any superiority or threat; "and trust me when I tell you that I haven't seen anyone having this effect on him."

"Enough! Am I not allowed to speak with a person I consider to be smart?"

"This conversation is a usual one, it is far from…" Here is where Tsukiya cut Hiro short.

"I have seen how smart and mature she is when she talked to Inuyasha last night. I was just making small talk. She obviously started a conversation with us because she wants to break the ice. It is important for us to feel comfortable around each other, after all we _are_ supposed to work as a team. In order to build confidence, we first need to get to know each other. You can't have the one without the other… Hiro and Kaito, you need to get out of your comfort zone and start opening up, you are part of the team too." After saying this, Tsukiya got lost in his own thoughts for a few moments, but no one noticed anything, since he kept his angry eyesight trained on Hiro and Kaito.

_"What are these idiots trying to do? Are they trying to scare her away? How could they tell her so openly that I may be attracted to her!?"_

_**"You need to calm down before anyone notices anything," **_added Tsukiya's beast_. __**"Moreover, there is nothing to worry about; you gave the perfect answer just as usual. I don't think anyone will suspect anything… at least for a while. You made it seem as if you were trying to make the entire group of humans feel more comfortable around you, not just Kagome."**_

"_You're right, no need to panic."_

Tsukiya was brought out of his thoughts by Hiro's answer to his tirade.

"Fine, we will play your little game, but I think we should continue our journey. The half-breed is waiting for us," Hiro's voice was filled with sarcasm when he pronounced the last part.

"No offence Hiro," said Kagome, "but I will not allow you to insult Inuyasha. He may be immature and self-centered, but he is still my friend. Moreover, I don't think it is right to condemn him for being a half-breed. It is not as if he chose to be borne like this. It is not his fault for being as he is. You do understand that, right?"

"Look here girl…" Kagome shot him a death glare as soon as the sentence left his mouth, "I am sorry, old habits die hard. I do understand what you say; the problem is I cannot accept it."

"Ok let me put the problem another way… What if you were to father a half-breed? How would you behave around him or her?"

"I… I… don't know. I guess I would care for the child anyway."

"Would you like to hear others talk about your half-breed child as you talk about Inuyasha?"

Kagome's question was met by silence from all the youkai. Apparently, she had managed to get her point across. She could only hope that from now on she would not hear any other comment hinting or pointing out the fact that Inuyasha was a mixed race. She did not care if they would criticize his immaturity and rashness, she did the same thing, but she would not allow them to ridicule him for being a hanyou. This last question silenced the group until midday when they stopped to eat lunch. While they were eating, Kagome began the conversation anew…

"So… Hiro, what type of demon are you?"

"I am a Japanese Marten demon."

"I see, but how did you come to work for Sesshoumaru?"

"I haven't always worked for him. I first worked for his father… you see, I am 500 years old."

"Mmm… and you, Kaito?"

"I am a Tiger demon."

"Where are you from?"

"I have no reason to answer any more questions," Kaito answered her question in an ice cold tone, as if to say 'mind your own business'.

This answer cut short Kagome's enthusiasm and they spent the rest of their lunch break in complete silence, even Shippo who was very talkative did not make a sound. Truth is that ever since the new members of the group arrived the atmosphere became cold. The humans, except Kagome, felt compelled to remain silent. Part of the reason for this silence was because they did not know what to talk about; they had no idea as to how they could approach the demons. Kagome suspected this, which is why she tried to break the ice between them and the demons. She soon realized that although she had chosen some banal subject for her conversation she did not have such a great start with Kaito. She was more or less satisfied with the start she had with the others. Of course, she did not even bother to include Sesshoumaru in 'the others', because she already knew that he was some sort of a special case.

Shortly after she was reduced to silence, Kagome began scrutinizing the four generals. It was the first time that she had time to do it since they started their journey for the day. She had tried to do the same thing the very night they came, but the light from the fire was too dim and she could not see.

"_How strange… three of the generals aren't Japanese, but even so, they have Japanese names… Moreover, their appearance is simply breath taking. Haruki's long shiny hair… the way it looks in the sunlight fascinates me… that shade of blonde that looks like ripe ears of wheat with those thin strands of black hair woven into it… it is simply intriguing. His face… although very masculine… is extremely handsome and attractive... his green eyes with those golden streaks… I feel like I could get lost in them… Apparently, I am not the only one to think this. I have seen the way Sango looks at him, but I guess she is also attracted to his lean and muscular body… I wander if he tried to blend or not. It is so confusing… why would he take a Japanese name and wear a Chinese hanfu if he tried to blend in. It makes no sense._

"_Tsukiya…" _Kagome's eyes shifted to the demon in question _"a chameleon demon. I have never heard of a demon like this, but then again, he comes from South America… If he had not told me what demon he is, I would have never suspected... there is no particularity that would give him away. Probably that is why he was a good scout. Unlike Haruki… he seemed to do his best to blend in by adopting a Japanese name and by choosing to wear an ancient Japanese samurai outfit… His appearance doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary… long black hair tied in a high pony tale. However, what I do like about his hair is the way his bangs fall over his right eye… his dark green eyes… they are like a maze. They never give away what he thinks or feels, but then again everything about him is a clear hint to the fact that he is a master of disguise._

As soon as Kagome finished examining Tsukiya, she moved on to Hiro…

"_Hmm… not very tall and his body's construction is lean… maybe Inuyasha's height? His hair is quite interesting although it is a single color. I like the way it shines in the sunlight and the fact that his hair has countless shades of chestnut... it's a shame he always wears it braided. His eyes match his hair color… they are light brown… How strange… they seem to be contrasting his personality because they are so soft and calm… Maybe I should not judge him after what he attempts to appear… Maybe he has some hidden past, nobody knows about, but I should wait and see before jumping to conclusions._

_Funny… although he is the only Japanese among the four generals Sesshoumaru brought with him, he seems to want to stand out. You would expect him to wear Japanese clothes; instead, he wears ancient Chinese clothes… I can't wait to know him better, I hope I will be able to befriend him…. And there is one more, Kaito… By all Gods, he is insufferable. He even overcomes Sesshoumaru and that speaks volumes of how he really is. I know that I should not judge him but… I simply cannot stand him. He is so… so… annoying and… and… full of himself. Urgh… he irritates him by his simple presence. Although, I have to recognize that he is just as attractive as the others with his short and spiky hair and his dark burgundy ice cold eyes. Not surprisingly, his body is tall and muscular… I wander from where he is… But then again why do I care? I can't even stand him… _

While Kagome was analyzing the new members of the group, someone else was also lost in thought. Well… a better term would be lost in conversation. Apparently, Sesshoumaru's beast has chosen to show itself yet again.

"_**Why did you talk to her like that?"**_

"_Like what?"_

"_**In a dismissive way."**_

"_I don't see what your problem is?"_

"_**None at all… It is just that we are going to be together for quite some time, so you could be civil to her."**_

"_Are you going to start nagging me again as you did when she came to us with that proposition?"_

"_**I don't know what you are talking about." **_The beat pretended not to know, hoping that Sesshoumaru would just drop the subject, because he did not want to get to the 'why?' of his insistence of accepting Kagome's plan.

"_I am talking about a month of hell you gave me, until I decided, obviously forced by you, to accept her plan and to make it work. Should I remind you that I did not have a moment of peace? Are you going to do the same thing again, until you make me be nice to her?"_

"_**Me forcing YOU to do something!? Why, you are definitely mistaken. It was your decision. On the other hand, if you want to say that… I might have influenced YOUR decision… well… that would be a completely different story, wouldn't it? I like this second variant better, and by the way, you are welcome." **_

"_Whatever… I'm not in the mood to argue with you AND STOP NAGGING ME, because I'm not talking to her… Wait a minute… Why are you so intent on speaking to her or in this case, why are you so intent on making ME talk to her?"_

"_**No special reason…"**_

"_Why so evasive? Are you trying to hide something from me again?"_

"_**No. I was wandering though… What did you feel when she focused her attention on Tsukiya and Haruki earlier today?"**_

"_Nothing. Why?"_

"_**Is that so? Then why did I feel a pang of jealousy?"**_

"_Jealousy!? It was just your imagination."_

"_**Look… if you like her, you would better recognize that now, otherwise it may be too late by the time you decide to get your head out of the gutter."**_

"_I told you already, I am not in love with her. It's absurd! Me? In love with a human?"_

"_**Fine! When you'll wake up and it will be too late, I'll be the one telling you 'Oh, but it is just your imagination that you are in love with her'". Oh, and in case you did not notice, because you were too busy arguing with me you should know that our little miko is looking over the generals. Do you think that she may have become infatuated with one of the four of our generals?"**_

Sesshoumaru started growling at the suggestion his beast made..._  
_

**To be continued…**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading my story.**


	10. Chapter 10: Secrets Revealed

**Inuyasha does not belong to me. **

**I'm sorry it took so long to update, but my inspiration left me for quite a long time.  
**

**Italics = thoughts**

…**..**

**Chapter 10: Secrets Revealed**

Two months later

Two months have come and gone and things started settling down, as the two groups became accustomed to each other. Nowadays, things were a lot more peaceful too, since Inuyasha, to everyone's surprise, has stopped his protests concerning Sesshoumaru's presence in his group. They were all wandering if he stopped saying anything because he matured or because he was sulking. Nevertheless, everyone was tempted to choose the latter option.

During these two moths, the humans and demons became so accustomed to each other's presence that at this point they were able to be civil to each other, even friendly in some cases. For instance, Kagome's relationship with Haruki and Tsukiya became stronger, which did not go unnoticed by a certain demon lord. These two months, which Tsukiya and Haruki have spent building their friendship with Kagome; Sesshoumaru wasted by sulking and arguing with his beast, which was constantly nagging him about his reluctance to speak to the miko. The beast kept warning him that he would end up loosing her because of his stubbornness and because of the fact that he was always lying to himself, when it came to his true feelings for her.

….

One morning, as they began their journey anew, Tsukiya started talking to Kagome…

"What is that big, yellow thing you always wear on your back? I mean, I've seen it the first time we came to your camp, but I never found the right moment to ask you."

"Oh," she smiled while she answered his question, "this is called a backpack the place I come from."

"I see…"

"I suppose you want to know about the other things too."

"Yes, if you are in the mood to explain it to me."

"Alright, lets start with the most obvious things. The thing I sleep in, it's called a sleeping bag…."

….

"_**See! That is the way it is done, you coward!"**_

"_Shut up already! You've nagged me enough about this."_

"_**Sesshoumaru, you are going to loose her if you don't do something soon. What am I saying? WE are going to loose her because of you!"**_

"_So, you are interested in her now?"_

"_**Yes, just as you are. But unlike you I am not afraid to admit it."**_

"_I am not afraid to admit anything!. I've told you before… I. AM. NOT. IN. LOVE. WITH. HER. So get it through your thick skull already."_

"_**You are in love with her and you know it very well."**_

"_No, I'm not."_

"_**Stop lying to me! You know that you can't hide your feelings from me. You know very well what the real problem is…. You dislike the fact that she is human."**_

"…_."_

"_**What? Cat ate your tongue? I'm right, aren't I?"**_

"_Mind your own business beast!"_

"_**I AM minding my own business. For god sakes, just talk to her! Do as Tsukiya and Haruki do." **_

"_And that is?"_

"_**They try to talk to her regardless of the subject. Listen and learn! Stop tuning out their conversations because you consider them useless, maybe you will learn something useful."**_

"_If I pay attention will you stop nagging me for now?"_

"_**Hn."**_

"_Fine. I'll listen."_

…

"… these are called shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner. Back home this is what we use to cleans ourselves."

"Yes, I've noticed that you bath every day, unlike other humans… Kagome, I've noticed that you keep saying 'back home'… where are you really from?"

"I'm from Japan," she answered evasively, hopping that he would be satisfied with that and he would drop the subject.

"I can see that from your physical appearance."

Kagome let out a sigh of defeat. It was clear to her now, that he was set on finding out the truth, so she might as well answer that question, since they were bound to find out one way or another.

"Well… I am from the future… 500 hundred years more exactly."

This made the new members of Inuyasha's group stop dead in their track. Out of all things, this was the last one they expected to hear. They never even though this, although now it seemed to be a very good and logical explanation, since so many of the things Kagome carried around were unknown to them. This tiny, little detail about herself she had decided to share with them, of course due to Tsukiya's insistence, suddenly clarified many of the pent up questions they had concerning the young miko. Now they understood why she talked such a strange Japanese and why the cloths she was wearing were so strange. Strange, but not as revealing as the ones she used to wear three years ago, a thing which Sesshoumaru found himself appreciating.

"_**Talk to her!"**_

"_About? There's nothing to talk about?"_

"_**Really? She tells everyone that she's from the future and you say that there is nothing to talk about? Are you serious?"**_

"_Fine, if this will make you shut up."_

"So, miko…"

"_**Use her name, you idiot! Do I really have to teach you how to talk to her and how to act around her?" **_Sesshoumaru ignored his beast's ranting and continued what he wanted to say, but with a small change…

"So, Kagome… you say that you are from the future. How much did things change in 500 years?" this sentence managed to reduce anyone who had questions for Kagome to silence. The generals have never heard their lord talk to people unless it was to threaten them.

"Well… things changed a lot… but I don't think it would be prudent to tell you much about what is going to happen in the future."

"I understand, but could you answer one question?"

"This depends on the question, Sesshoumaru."

"Are there demons in the future?"

"I can't answer this question, because frankly I don't know either. "

"You don't know or you don't want to tell us," Kaito interfered.

"Look, as far as I know there are no demons, but just as well they could have discovered some spells to hide themselves or to pass as humans. If that is the case, which I suspect it is, it would be very difficult for me to pinpoint any demons."

"But you are a miko…"

"How can I not feel the demons, if I'm a miko? Well, we are natural enemies, right?" everyone nodded to this, "I know that if I was a demon and I would try to make a spell to hide myself from the humans and live among them peacefully, I would make sure that the spell is so strong that not even a miko or a monk could pinpoint me."

"Kagome is right. If we wanted to live in the future without being bothered, we would do just that… find a spell so strong that we could trick even the strongest miko or priest." Tsukiya backed up Kagome's theory.

This is how they spent their entire day… debating various theories about the demons in the future and about Kagome's life in the future…

….

As the evening approached, the group decided to find a clearing and settle for the knight. Before they could set camp they were attacked by a hoard of demons. No one doubted that they were sent by Naraku, and to everyone's surprise they were more powerful than usual and this time they seemed to have a specific target too, that is, Kagome. Everyone fought the attack, including Kagome, whose powers had greatly increased during the five years she has spent in the past. She was at least fifty times more powerful than Kikyo ever was while alive. Of course, all this was the result of countless hours of training and practice and of various mikos who had been her teachers besides Kaede.

As the battle unfolded, Kagome understood the real danger; she understood that this battle was very different from the others and that it was going to take longer to get read of all their attackers. Thus, she decided to put up a barrier around Shippo, in order to make sure that he would be safe until everything ended. As she was putting the barrier up, she was not paying as much attention to her surroundings as she should have and if it had not been for Tsukiya, she would have been badly injured.

Once the barrier was set up, Kagome returned her full attention to the battle and decided that this was taking way too long so….

"Everyone gather behind me!"

"Why? Do I look like I need the protection of a woman?" answered Kaito.

"Don't argue with me now! Do as I say!"

They were all shocked by her tone of voice and did as she asked them. It was obvious that she was planning something and they did not want to risk losing their life just because they would not listen to her. When she saw everyone doing as she asked them to, she hurried and put up a barrier around them.

"You can't do this! Kagome listen to me! This is homicidal! There are thousands of demons! You can't defeat all of them on your own! Kagome!" Soon, Tsukiya understood that he was wasting his breath in trying to persuade her. Nevertheless, he was shocked that none of her human friends said anything and when he looked around, he saw that they were all frozen in shock. Apparently they did not expect this either. Then he looked at Haruki, and realized that he was not faring any batter than Kagome's human friends. In fact, they were all frozen in place unable to utter a thing and this made him loose all hope that Kagome will survive. The fact that he could feel how powerful her barrier was did not help at all. He did not believe that she could kill them all by herself, no matter how powerful she believed herself to be, but a sudden pink light blinded them and his mind became numb at the same time, probably from shock. When the pink light dissipated and Kagome took down her barriers, everyone looked at her with a dumb expression on their face.

"What?! Snap out of it! It's over! I purified them all. They didn't even leave ash behind, which means we can stay here."

"A… a… a… Ka… Ka… Kagome… what did you do?"

"Well… aaa… lets see Inuyasha, what do you think I did? OBVIOUSLY I purified them! What else could I have done?"

"But, but, but… were did all that power came from? Kikyo didn't…" Kagome cut him short as soon as that name left his mouth.

"Well, I guess it's because I am a faulty copy. You know… a cheap copy? Anyway, that's what you used to say, right? In the end, maybe that is the problem. Had I really been _her_ copy, as you so nicely put it when you compare the two of us, I probably wouldn't have been so powerful, don't you think? Now, if we're done with this subject I suggest setting up the camp, because it's quite late and I'm sure that some of us really want to eat and sleep. After all, it has been a long day."

This reply shut him up for the moment and they started unpacking their things. As they went about their business, Kagome noticed that Tsukiya had a long gash on his upper arm. It was only then that she realized that he got hurt while he protected her from the demon that attacked her while she was putting up Shippo's barrier.

"Tsukiya, can you please come here?" He left what he was doing and came to her. This interaction did not go unnoticed by Sesshoumaru and Haruki, who wandered what had happened all of a sudden that determined Kagome to summon Tsukiya to her. So, they paid more attention then usual to their conversation.

"Is there something wrong Kagome?"

"Yes. Could you please show me your right arm?"

"Why?" Tsukiya looked at her with a confused look on his face.

"You got hurt while you protected me. Please show me your arm."

"It's nothing. It will go away by morning. I don't feel any pain."

"Even so, please show me."

"I'm telling you, there's no reason to worry..."

Kagome become fed up with his denial and simply caught a hold of his arm and raised up his sleeve. She was not surprised by what she saw.

"No wonder you feel nothing. There's poison in your wound."

"Stupid wench, it would have hurt him like hell had it been poison."

"The stupid one is you, Inuyasha. There are several types of poison. This particular one is not very common. It's the type that numbs only the area that was injured, not the entire arm. Basically, you don't even know you have been injured and by morning, if you are among the unlucky ones your dead. How about that? Is that stupid Inuyasha? What? Cat ate your tongue?"

"How do you know this by a simple look?" Tsukiya asked.

"I didn't know by a simple look. Several factors made me realize what type of poison it was. The most important one was that you did not even realize you have been injured, although the wound is quite big. Of course, you wouldn't have died by morning since you are strong, but over the night you would have become unconscious and run a high fever. So I thought it would be better to prevent this by curing your wound now." As Kagome was done speaking, she prepared to purify the poison from the wound, when…

"Wait! I'm not sure I want you to do this. I mean… what if I…" Kagome cut him short.

"What if you end up like the demons I purified?" Tsukiya nodded at this, "Don't worry, I can control my powers very well. Had I not been sure of my self-control, I would have used some herbal mix. I've been trained by several mikos, and from Kaede I've learned how to cure demons both with herbs and my miko powers. Don't worry I practiced a lot this power. You're safe." Kagome answered with a smile and began anew the purifying process. In ten minutes time, the poison was completely removed from his wound and system and his wound had disappeared. Everyone looked at her in wonder, they had no idea she could do something like this and Inuyasha could not help himself but ask…

"Why didn't you use that on me too?"

"I'm sorry, but do you consider you deserve such treatment? Ever since you've known me, you did nothing but hurt me, ridicule me, and insult me. You should have gone to Kikyo to cure your wounds the same way I cured Tsukiya's. I'm sure it would be a child's game for her, since, according to you, I am just a useless copy, a shard detector."

"Anyway, why did you save me, Tsukiya? You barely know me."

"Because I was the closest to you."

"It's not true, the closest to me was Hiro, and he didn't do anything. So why did you really do it? You know you were careless, right? That is the reason you were injured. I simply refuse to believe that someone as powerful as you are could be so easily injured."

"As I said, I was close."

"And I repeat. I don't believe you."

"I was…"

"You know… I will pester you about the real reason, so you could as well tell me now, because I'm very persistent."

"Ok. I give up. I did it because I think I've started to fall in love with you." Tsukiya finally admitted his feelings, as a slight blush rose to his face.

**To be continued…**


	11. Chapter 11: Turmoil

**Inuyasha does not belong to me.**

**I'm very thankful to the guest who pointed out to me that I messed up the chapters when I updated. Sorry for the mess up, apparently I had a little bit of a problem this time when I updated.  
**

**Italics = thoughts**

…**.**

**Chapter 11: Turmoil**

Last time

"Why did you save me, Tsukiya?"

"I did it because I think I've started to fall in love with you." Tsukiya finally admitted his feelings, as a slight blush rose to his face.

Now

This confession shocked everyone into silence; even Sesshoumaru's beast was speechless, so for once he stopped pestering Sesshoumaru. When Tsukiya's beast saw that no one said anything and that everyone looked at them with their mouths agape, he took the opportunity to have a small talk with his other half…

"_**It's now or never, just ask her already."**_

"_What if she rejects me?"_

"_**At least you know you've tried; otherwise you will regret this all your life, or better said WE will regret it. Do it now, before they come out of their shock."**_

"_You're right."_

"Kagome… I've wanted to ask you this for some time now…" This made Kagome focus her attention on back on him, "… are you… willing to… start a relationship with me?"

"Well, Tsukiya... you see… this is all so…"

"Please… let me finish. Lets give it a try. I mean, if you feel you can't do it after we try I will understand and I will never bring this subject up ever again, but please don't kill this before it starts."

Kagome let out a sigh, after which she said…

"Okay, let me think bout it please. I will try to give you an answer soon."

"Okay," replied Tsukiya with a smile on his face, "I'll be looking forward to you're answer," he ended with a crocked smile.

The fact that Kagome said that she would think about it made a few persons snap out of their stupor, one of them being Inuyasha, who just as always made his presence felt…

"Are you serious? Do you really want to start a relationship with him? You don't even know him!? You can't…"

"Yes I can and I will, if I want to. You are in no position to try to stop me. As for knowing him, that is not a problem, we have plenty of time to get to know each other IF I am will to accept his proposal, after all things have to start from somewhere, right?"

"But you can't!" Inuyasha continued his protests, while stomping his foot to the ground.

"Stop acting like a spoiled brat! You are my friend and I love you, but I swear that you really test my patience at times. I can do whatever I want, it's my life."

"No! You can't!"

"Why? Please explain to me why I can't do what I want."

"Because I love you."

Now it was Kagome's time to be reduced to silence. She did not know how to respond to this, she wandered if she should laugh or slap him. How dared he say something like that, after all he put her through? She just could not believe it.

"Look… Inuyasha… I think that your problem is with me being involved in a relationship with another man that, obviously, isn't you…"

"No, it's not like th…"

"Please let me finish, " Inuyasha nodded affirmatively, and Kagome continued, "you cannot tell me that you love me after everything you've put me through, y…"

"I didn't…," he shut up as soon as he saw her face filled with annoyance.

"As I was saying, you cannot say that you are in love with me, because you always run to Kikyo when she's around and you simply do not hurt the people you claim to love in such a way. Don't you even dare tell me you didn't know I was aware of your little encounters, because you knew full well that I was. What you are trying to do now is unfair and underhanded. You would say anything to stop me from taking a decision favorable to Tsukiya, and I'm quite sure I am old enough to be able to choose by myself what I want my life to be like in the future, without any help from you or anyone else. Is that clear?"

"But, Kagome…" said Inuyasha in a whiny voice.

"Regardless of what I decide, I won't stop being your friend and you have to understand that."

"Miko …" **"**_**USE. HER. NAME!"**_ "Kagome… are you…"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you Sesshoumaru but this is my decision to take and I don't want anyone to question my judgment, plus I'm tired and I would like to take a bath, so lets set up the camp. Okay?"

Sesshoumaru nodded and everyone set out to do their particular tasks. After they were fed and settled down for the night, Kagome gathered her bathing supplies and headed to the near-by hot spring. When Sango saw that she was not invited, she jumped to her feet with the excuse that she would like to take a bath too. Nevertheless, the real reason wasn't the desire to take a bath, but to talk to her friend about what just happened with Tsukiya and a few other things that preoccupied her. So the two young women headed to the hot spring. After they finished bathing, they remained in the hot spring to soak for a little while.

"Okay, Sango spill it out."

"I don't know what you're trying to say."

Kagome smiled at this, "Oh, come on we both know that you didn't come with me because you wanted to take a bath."

"Fine, you caught me red handed," replied Sango with a slight laugh. "So…what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I've seen that even Sesshoumaru has a few objections… which was down right strange."

"Mm hmm, but do you think there is anything behind his reaction?"

"Are you talking about the ice lord?"

"Well, who else?"

"I have no idea. I never know what to expect from him."

"What if another of the youkai would confess his undying love for you?" asked Sango while laughing heartily. Kagome understood from her tone of voice that she was not serious, but…

"Don't say that! Not even in jest."

"Oh, come on, wouldn't it be fun?" continued Sango teasingly, "Kagome the heart breaker".

"Hahaha, you think you're so funny don't you?"

"But seriously now, leaving jokes aside, what would you do if that happened?"

"Why? Do you suspect something?"

"Maybe… I was thinking that maybe Haruki… I mean the way he's been treating you ever since he's come to the group…"

"I have no idea… But had your suspicion been true, wouldn't he have tried to say something just like Inuyasha and Sessh…" This train of though made Kagome stop dead in her track.

"Kagome? Kagome? Hello? Earth to Kagome?"

"Oh, sorry I was just shocked by the though that just popped into my mind, but it couldn't be true…"

"What are you talking about, because you've lost me?"

"Sesshoumaru… he tried to do the same thing as Inuyasha… He tried to influence my decision and from the manner he started talking I'd say he was against all this… As if…"

"As if he'd be feeling something for you?"

"Mhm... I'm scared" said Kagome in a small voice, while trying to hide herself beneath the water, the same way a child would hide from something he was scared of. "Oh, God I don't even want to take this option into consideration."

"Calm down, you don't know anything for sure, he…"

"But he cannot be in love with me, I mean… he dislikes humans, right?"

"Breath sweetie, we don't know for sure what he wanted to say, you didn't let him finish, remember? Plus, you just eradicated a hoard of very powerful demons on your own, so why are you afraid of? It is more than obvious that you can deal with anything that is thrown your way."

"You're right, I can face anything, but it's so annoying that I still have these periods when I panic..."

"It's normal. You are tired and emotionally overstressed with everything that has happened. Don't worry."

"Thanks, Sango," answered Kagome with a small smile. "We should return and get some sleep. I get the particular feeling that tomorrow will be a LONG day."

The Next Day 

As soon as they gathered their things and began their journey again, Sesshoumaru continued his idea from the day before. However, he behaved contrary to everyone's expectations. He walked with Kagome and talked to her in the friendliest way they had ever heard him talk to anyone. He talked to her as if she was his equal, and everyone was confused about that. He never did that with the youkai that were part of his court, let alone a human.

"Are you sure about the decision you are going to take?"

"I'm still thinking of it. Would you have any objection to an affirmative answer from my part?"

"…"

"Hmm, you know… no answer is still an answer. From your silence, I understand that you wouldn't like it, if I accepted his proposal."

"Why would I care about that miko?"

"_**And there we go again. Stop raising walls between you and her!"**_

"_I said the truth. I'm not in love with her. You are the one who's infatuated with her, so leave me out of it."_

"_**So yesterday you almost admitted being in love with her and today you've changed your mind... Keep playing these games and we'll lose her. Just tell her what we feel for her."**_

"_Fine. I'll tell her."_

_...  
_

"Well, I thought that you would mind, if I…"

"Not at all, I don't have feelings for you, if that's what you are trying to imply."

...

"_**NOOO! What have you done!? Now you won't be able to tell her that…"**_

"_That you are infatuated with her? Well… that was the point."_

"_**You like her too, don't deny it! You…"**_

"_Well, I don't think you can tell someone you feel nothing for them and the next second tell them you are madly in love with them. They'd think you're making fun of them. I did understand how these things related to emotions work, right?"_

"_**You owed me a favor!"**_

"_A favor? What favor? I don't remember owing you anything."_

"_**Stop playing games! You know what I'm talking about, you idiot! You'll be sorry for what you just did, but it'll be too late when you realize it."**_

"_Oh, shut up! Of course, I know what favor you're talking about. You don't like it when others play games with you in critical situations, do you? This should teach you a lesson."_

"_**I wouldn't have let her die; I care for her just as much as you do. It's just that… it angered me that you simply chose to delete all the information that we got from our scouts related to the place of origin of the woman we love..."**_

"_I don't love her, and you are only obsessed with her because you can't have her. So what if she chooses Tsukiya or another?"_

"_**Fine! Be it your way… for now; but you will reach the same conclusion as I did... That what you just did was the biggest mistake of your life. Oh, and trust me when I tell you that you WILL pay your debt to me sooner or later."**_

**To be continued….**


	12. Chapter 12: Decisions

Inuyasha does not belong to me.

Sorry for the mess-up with the last chapter, please go back to the previous one and make sure you've read the right chapter.

Italics = thoughts

…..

12. Decisions

Two weeks have gone by since Tsukiya confessed to Kagome how he felt about her and ever since, the atmosphere in the group has been a little icy and tense. The males guilty for this atmosphere, were Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. Everyone understood why Inuyasha was sulking, but no one understood why Sesshoumaru was in such a bad mood, especially after he confessed that he could not care less if Kagome decided to accept Tsukiya or not.

As they were walking, in silence this time, Sesshoumaru was distracted by his beast…

"_**What happened to you? You don't seem to be quite yourself lately."**_

"_Shut up. I'm not in the mood for you right now."_

"_**Talk to me about what's bothering you, it's not like I'm going to tell anyone…"**_

"_Stop pretending that you're concerned!"_

"_**Well, of course I'm worried. After all, we share the same body, if anything were to happen to you…"**_

"_What are you implying beast!?"_

"_**Nothing, nothing… It's just that your sleep has been quite restless lately and you could not get the rest you need…"**_

"_Well, if you are so worried, STOP sending those dreams to me!"_

"_**But I'm not sending them to you. As a matter of fact, I don't even know what they are about."**_

"_How can that be?"_

"_**Why don't you just tell me what they are about, since I'm the only one you can talk to about these things."**_

Sesshoumaru released a mental sign and caved in to his beast's request…

"_I dream about… that annoying miko and me… I dream that we are together and that we are happy and have a family, but when… when she… I can't talk about this!"_

"_**Yes, you can. Just try a little harder."**_

"_The thing is that the dream changes every night… At times I dream that we are a couple and we are happy… I feel happier in that dream than I've ever felt in my entire waking life… and that angers me, because she is human…"_

"_**But she makes you happy, why does it matter if she's human or not?""**_

"_I don't want to be like our father… love weakens a youkai and if I am wrong in thinking that love is something that weakens us, how do you explain that he died protecting a human and their half-breed child?"_

"_**You first need to understand that no one knows if the history will repeat itself… maybe love will make you, us, stronger…"**_

"_I don't want to hear this… Let me tell you about the other nights, when I have a restless sleep…"_

"_**You want to tell me that you actually sleep well when you dream of you and Kagome as a couple?"**_

"_Hn… During other nights I dream that she is happy alongside Tsukiya and she refuses my feelings for her…"_

"_**But you keep telling me you feel nothing for her."**_

"_Of course I feel nothing for her! It's just that it bothers me to be rejected… even if it's a dream."_

"_**Aren't you, by any chance, sorry for what you did two weeks ago? You do remember that you told her that you couldn't care less if she chooses Tsukiya…"**_

"_Of course I'm not!"_

"_**Your voice tells me otherwise."**_

"_Enough! I'll lock you away, so you won't bother me anymore."_

Somewhere in the back of Sesshoumaru's mind

"_**So, you still refuse to accept your feelings and do something to remedy what you did. Then, I'll make sure to torture you in your dreams from now on. I tried to be nice and make you realize that you love her, but it won't happen until you admit it by your own free will… I'll make you live through all the hell you've been putting me through because of your stubbornness. Just prepare yourself, because you won't know what hit you."**_

Back to the real world

As soon as his conversation with the beast ended, he returned his attention to his surroundings, only to hear Kagome and Tsukiya joking around and talking about themselves in order to get to know each other better. By the way things were developing between the two it was clear that there were high chances for Kagome to give a favorable answer to Tsukiya. Moreover, Kagome really loved the way Tsukiya treated her. She adored all the little things he did for her, like caring her backpack and helping her with other chores. She could not believe how good it felt to be around someone who loved you for real and who would do just about anything to make you feel comfortable, relaxed, and cherished. Now, she could not understand how she could have loved someone like Inuyasha, who is more interested in his own person and personal gain and who is so brutal to everyone around him. She was thinking to give Tsukiya a chance even if she was not in love with him yet. It was obvious to her that the physical attraction she may feel for Tsukiya or any other man, for that matter, is not love. She finally came to understand that in order to fall in love with someone, you have to get to know said person first and accept both his weaknesses and strengths.

One month later

One evening as the group was sitting besides the fire and talking; Kagome left Sango's side and went to sit beside Tsukiya. As soon as she sat down, she looked him strait in the eyes and started talking, without noticing that everyone stopped talking just to listen to what she had to say.

"I've been thinking a lot about… what you said to me one month and a half ago and I… decided to give us a chance, but I need to know if we have more time to get to know each other and see if it would really work between us, otherwise everything dies here."

"Yes, there is a courting period of one or two years in our society. This time is meant for the couple to get to know each other. During it, you would be my intended and if at the end of one year you are still not sure we can wait another year and then you either decide to become my mate or we simply end the courting period and you will cease to be my intended."

"Now, wait a minute you can't just decide that without…"

"Without what Inuyasha? Your approval? Should I remind you that I don't need your approval? As a matter of fact I need no one's approval besides mine to do this. It is my choice, it is **my** life! Neither you nor anyone else has a say into what I choose to do with my life or whom I choose to marry. Understood?"

"Wench…"

"If you have nothing intelligent to say, I advice you to shut up this moment, if you don't want me to sit you into oblivion. "

This threat had the desired effect upon the hanyou, but Miroku could not keep silent anymore. He refrained from asking any question for more than a month and now he just wanted to find out the answer that kept tormenting him day and night.

"I'm sorry to intrude lady Kagome, but I have a question for Haruki and it's related to your relationship with Tsukiya."

"A question for Haruki? What does he have to do with all of this?"

"Well… I've seen how he behaved towards you ever since they joined our group so… I want to know why aren't you saying anything to stop her from becoming Tsukiya's intended, I mean you gave me the impression that you fell in love with lady Kagome. So, as a man I don't know how you can just stand there and watch as you loose your love to another man."

"I could simply answer that this is none of your business, but I think I'll indulge you this time. I don't do anything because…"

**To be continued…**


	13. Chapter 13: Haruki's Reason

**Inuyasha does not belong to me.**

**I'm sorry I cut short the last chapter, but I wanted to dedicate an entire chapter only to Haruki.**

…**.**

**13. Haruki's Reason**

Then

"Well… I've seen how he behaved towards you ever since they joined our group so… I want to know why aren't you saying anything to stop her from becoming Tsukiya's intended, I mean you gave me the impression that you fell in love with lady Kagome. So, as a man I don't know how you can just stand there and watch as you loose your love to another man."

"I could simply answer that this is none of your business, but I think I'll indulge you this time. I don't do anything because…"

Now

"I don't do anything because I am not in love with her as you may think. Sure, I care for her, because she reminds me of my sister… You see… I have a sister back in Europe, which I haven't seen ever since I left my family and I miss her dearly. I was swept off my feet when I first saw Kagome, she looks a lot like my sister..."

"But haven't you talked at all to her ever since you left your homeland?" asked Kagome with a sad voice.

"I talk to her… we write to each other as often as we can. I also received a small painting with her and her little son a few days before I left together with lord Sesshoumaru and the others," as soon as he ended the sentence he took a small painting out of one of his pockets and showed it to Kagome. Her face lighted up when she saw a woman with black hair and brown golden eyes, who was holding in her arms a small boy that looked a little like Haruki. It was obvious to her that despite the fact that he was the uncle, the genes of the males in his family were very strong. As she was contemplating the picture, Haruki smiled softly at her and when he was about to continue his little story he was interrupted by Kaito.

"You never said anything about a sister. Are you sure you're not making everything up?"

"No need to be so suspicious and you have no right to complain you didn't know. It's not as if you asked and I lied to you." Kaito shot him an evil glare when he heard the answer, but at the same time was effectively reduced to silence.

"Another very important reason for which I am not interested in Kagome in that way, is because I'm already mated to a leopard cat and the despite the jokes about cats being unfaithful, I love and respect my mate very much. Is everything clear now?" Miroku nodded dumbly at this question and Sango looked at Haruki with her mouth agape. The last thing she expected to hear was that he was mated, and here she hoped that he and Kagome would form a couple in the near future.

"Okay, so… since all doubts have been clarified I'll state yet again my decision… I decided to accept Tsukiya's proposal. I will become his intended and if things work out I will become his mate too." She said the last part with a smile on her lips, while she look over at Tsukiya, whose eyes brightened up at the news. "But, don't forget your promise."

"What promise?"

"That if in the end I decide I can't be with you, you will release me from my promise of becoming your mate."

"Of course, I'm a man of my word."

After this, they spent a little more time talking and then went to sleep.

**To be continued…**


	14. Chapter 14: Unexpected Guest

**Inuyasha does not belong to me.**

**I apologize for my prolonged absence, but I have returned now and I hope that you will enjoy this chapter just as much as you've enjoyed the others or more.**

**Italics = thoughts**

…**..**

**14. Unexpected Guest**

Two weeks have gone by and everything was peaceful and quiet. Well… as peaceful and quiet things can be around an irritated hanyou. He was angry that Kagome decided to accept officially Tsukiya's offer, but it was clear to him that he could do nothing to stop Kagome. Of course, he had tried all sorts of pranks in order to make Kagome angry with Tsukiya, but somehow things never worked out his way… his way being Kagome breaking up with Tsukiya.

_One week back_

As soon as they had settled for the night, the girls decided to go take a bath while the men hunted and gathered wood for the fire. Inuyasha had teamed up with Tsukiya, since the latter decided that he wanted to hunt something for dinner. When the men separated in groups and each of them went about their business, Inuyasha started making up a plan. A plan that unsurprisingly, was meant to cause some problem for the happy couple.

"_Keh… I'll show this damned chameleon that he never should have taken what was mine. But how should I go about it?... Hey… wait a minute, we've been through here two years ago."_ As soon as he remembered this piece of information he let out a snicker, which attracted Tsukiya's attention, but he thought nothing of it. _"Now, the problem is… how do I make that damned demon do what I want him to do? It most definitely won't work if I played the role of the 'damsel in distress', even HE isn't as idiot as to fall for that." _At this thought, he simply could not help himself and laughed out loud. It seems that he found very entertaining the idea of a stupid Tsukiya. However, this time around Tsukiya was sure that the hanyou was planning something _again_ and that that something most certainly included him and his intended. He most certainly was neither curious nor eager to find out what it was, but he knew that whatever it was it would cause serious problems.

"_Hmm… the 'damsel in distress' – now that's a thought. All I have to do now is… create a damsel in distress… Maybe if I can make some wild animal attack the girls while they are bathing. I've seen Sango leaving behind her hiraikotsu, so they would probably scream for help instead of fighting the animal themselves."_

"Tsukiya, I think that we should split, you know… to cover a bigger area…"

Tsukiya looked at him suspiciously but he figured out some time ago that he could not stop the hanyou if he had made up his mind, so he decided to play along and see what he had in mind this time. "Ok, where do you want to go?"

"I'll go left, you go right."

"Fine, we'll meet back at the camp. I plan to hunt for a dear, so you should hunt for something smaller."

They split up after this short conversation and Inuyasha decided that he should hurry and put his plan into action and with a bit of luck he might even break up the happy couple. Having made up his mind he left in search of a wild boar. Nevertheless, he could not believe his eyes, when instead of a wild boar he came across a sounder. He did not lose time and started antagonizing the young boars in order to make sure that at least one of the wild sows would follow him. To his surprise, his plan had worked a little too well, since two very angry sows started chasing after him. Now, all Inuyasha had to do was to follow through with his plan and lead them to the hot spring. He managed to hide in time for the sows to see only the two girls who were drying themselves without rush. When he had seen how cheerful and carefree the girls were, he decided to stick around and watch the show. The girls were completely taken by surprise, but fortunately for them, Tsukiya showed up shortly after the two sows and made good use of one of his powers. He made the girls a sign to keep quiet and not to move, after which he quickly extended his camouflage power to them. Soon after the girls disappeared from sight, the sows left to return to their youngsters and Tsukiya brought down his barrier.

"What the hell was that Tsukiya? Why did you do this?"

"What do you mean, I just saved the two of you."

"Yeah, after we almost got hurt because of you!"

"I didn't do it. I was chasing after a dear, when I heard the enraged sows. You should be thankful, because if it had not been for me, you would be seriously injured right now. Believe what you want about the attack of the sows, but I think you should cover yourself, since you're still naked." As soon as Kagome heard these last words leave Tsukiya's mouth, her rage escalated even more.

"WHAT? And you just stood there without saying anything about it? Leave. NOW! I don't want to see you anymore! How dare you stare at me, while I'm naked!?" She yelled at him, while wrapping a towel around her body. Seeing that any attempt of reasoning with his intended right now would be pointless, Tsukiya decided to leave.

"Sweetie, don't you think you overreacted?" Sango asked her, as soon as Tsukiya was out of sight.

"But I WAS naked!"  
"Yes, I get that point. I was naked too, but…"

"No buts. He cannot look at me or at you while we are naked…"

"Kagome, he…"

"No! Don't try to…"

"Enough! Shut up already!" Sango's outburst managed to make the young girl shut up. "Look, I don't think you meant to treat him that way; and I am saying this as someone who sees this situation objectively. The thing is that everything happened very fast and you got scared AND embarrassed. Are you following me?"

"Yes." Kagome answered in a small voice that clearly showed how much she regretted what she had done. It was only now that she had realized how unreasonable she had been. Nevertheless, Sango did not let her to linger too long on those thoughts and continued her monologue.

"You were so scared that he had to tell you that you were naked, you had not noticed until that point. Now on the other hand… had he been Miroku or even remotely similar to him, Tsukiya wouldn't have told you to cover yourself. Am I right?"

Kagome started thinking about the whole situation and she had no other choice than to nod in approval to what Sango was saying.

"If you'll explain to him why you behave in such a way, I think he will understand you, after all he did say that he loved you."

"Yes, but how do I do that?"

"Well, I think you should apologize and don't forget to mention that you were embarrassed because he saw you naked."

"But didn't he smell my embarrassment? Why should I mention it?"

"Because you're not dealing with a dog demon but a chameleon, and I don't think they have such a sharp sense of smell."

"But… Sango….."

"Let's get dressed and return to camp. You can talk with him there."

"But…" As soon as she heard another 'but' leaving Kagome's mouth, she gave her the look that made her understand that this matter will not disappear unless she talks with her fiancé.

After they dressed themselves, they gathered their things and returned to camp. The atmosphere was not very cheerful… except a certain hanyou, who was very pleased with himself. To the girls' surprise, the men had already started cooking dinner. Apparently, they either got tired of waiting for them or wanted to make their life easier, at least for one night.

"Who started cooking?"

"Tsukiya." Sesshoumaru answered shortly.

"Oh… I see. Tsukiya?" Kagome said in a small voice. "Can I talk with you?"

"Yes." This monosyllabic answer bothered Kagome a little bit. Ever since she got to know him better, she knew that he gave short answers only to people he had no interest in, or to people he was upset with; and she knew that he was part of the later category.

"Would you come for a walk?" She asked in the same small voice, but with a little bit more hope infused into it.

"I cannot leave. I need to take care of the food…"

"Oh, don't worry about that." She interrupted him quickly, "Sango will take care of it, won't you Sango?"

"Yes, of course. You can go."

"Fine." He said, letting out a sigh.

As soon as Inuyasha saw Tsukiya and Kagome leave camp, he wanted to go after them, but Sango stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to check if the surroundings are safe."

"They are, that's what Sesshoumaru and Hiro did while you were off hunting and I and Kagome were bathing. Sit down."

"But…"

"Look, I know what you want, but it won't work with me. You had her and you lost her. Just give up already and let her be."

As soon as Inuyasha heard this, he got up in a tree, crossed his arms, and sat there pouting and sulking. He thought that he could trick Sango, but apparently, she was smarter than he gave her credit.

….

When Kagome believed that they were far enough from the camp, so that no one could hear them she stopped and caught Tsukiya's hand and asked him to sit down. Shortly after he sat down, she did the same and started talking.

"It is quite obvious to me that you are upset over what happened at the hot spring and I want to apologize."

"Ka…"

"Please let me finish." She interrupted him with a smile. "I overreacted and I am sorry, because you did not deserve to be treated that way neither by me, nor anyone else… I was scared and embarrassed, that's… that's why I reacted like that."

"Embarrassed?"

"Well, of course, you saw me naked!"

"But you have nothing to be embarrassed for…"

"Well, that's the way I felt back then and I feel right now. It's not easy for me to sit here talking to you, after you saw me…"

"Don't worry. No one has to know it even happened..."

"I have to ask you something… What happened back there? With the wild sows I mean… How did they get there?"

"I don't know, I heard them and I came running in case anyone had any problems with them."

"Are you sure you don't know anything? Not even a suspicion?"

"No, I came running to help, without knowing that I would…"

"Ok, ok I believe you. However, I have a more burning issue right now."

"Which is?"

"Do you forgive me?"

"Yes, I forgive you."

"Great!" Kagome said with a beaming smile on her face and without thinking very much of what she was doing; she leaned over and gave him an innocent kiss on the lips, which took Tsukiya by surprise. He never attempted to kiss her before and the fact that she kissed because she wanted to made him very happy.

"You know, Tsukiya, I think that I am starting to fall in love with you."

"Well, I think that is a good thing." He said, looking at her in such a way, that even a blind man could have seen how much he loved her.

"But I have to warn you about something…"

"About what?"

"If you ever dare cheat on me… I won't hesitate to purify your ass to hell." Kagome said this last part with an evil smile on her face. "Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes, my lovely miko." Tsukiya smiled back at her. _"If she made this threat she must be seriously falling in love with me. I think we will be very happy together."_

"Good, because I won't allow anyone to put me through what Inuyasha has put me over the years." Nevertheless, this time there was no hint of joke in her voice or eyes, she was very serious; which made Tsukiya wonder how much did she really suffer at Inuyasha's side.

_Back to present day_

One week has gone by since Inuyasha pulled his last prank on the couple. He was still sulking over the fact that his plan did not work the way he wanted. Instead, it backfired, because if anything, it only made them to grow closer to each other. Now, they even kissed in front of them. Of course, they were not passionate kisses, but it was obvious that it bothered him, and if one looked closer, Inuyasha was not the only one sulking. The grate Lord Sesshoumaru was also sulking, but he never said anything to anyone, so no one dared bother him, knowing his temper.

As group was walking peacefully, Kagome stopped dead in her tracks.

"Two shards are coming towards us."

She barely managed to finish the sentence, when a tornado appeared in front of them, only to reveal… Kouga. Kouga, being his usual self, he did not bother to look around him and went strait to Kagome and took her hand.

"How are you this day, my love?"

"I'm fine… could you please let go of my hand?"

"Sure, whatever my woman wants." Kouga pretended to let go of her, but instead he quickly caught her hand and kissed it, after which he let go of it.

"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked with a low growl.

"I came to see if you took good care of my woman."

"I am not your woman." Kagome beat Tsukiya to the punch. He waited to see who was this wolf demon, in order to know how to react to him, but he soon understood that the wolf was a threat to his relationship with Kagome.

"Well, I live with the hope that you will change your mind one day."

"I won't change my mind. I am engaged to Tsukiya."

"Ah! Lord Sesshoumaru. I didn't see you."

"Obviously. You were too preoccupied with other things."

Kouga looked around him and noticed that two persons were missing.

"What happened to your ward and that old servant of yours."

"It's none of your business."

"Don't worry Kouga, they are safe. We are hunting for the shards and they were left behind in a safe place."

"Well, in that case I will join you in your search."

"Ok, the more the merrier. Right?"

"What are you doing Kagome?" Sango whispered in her ear.

"I hope he'll get bored and leave by the end of the week. You know that if we refuse to accept him, he's going to tag along and them we will never be able to get rid of him." She whispered back.

"Hmm… you may be right."

"She may be right in what?" asked Tsukiya.

"I'll tell you later on, when we'll be alone."

"Ok."

Two days had gone by since Kouga joined the group and he was annoying everyone. However, each member of the group had various reasons to be annoyed with Kouga, except three members, namely, Tsukiya, Inuyasha, and Sesshoumaru, who were mainly pissed off due to Kouga's behavior towards Kagome.

During the second day of Kouga's stay, Tsukiya felt that he had to do something before the situation got even more out of control, so he asked the wolf demon to join him when left to make sure that the place where they camped for the night was safe. When Tsukiya knew that they were far enough from the camp and that the chances of any of the members to interrupt them were very small, he proceeded with his plan. He took Kouga by surprise when he suddenly pinned him to a tree.

"If you ever approach my future mate or hit on her, I will kill you and your entire pack."

"I don't believe you…" Kouga stopped talking when Tsukiya started squeezing his neck even more.

"Are you sure? I am sure you must have heard of the fame of Lord Sesshoumaru's generals."

"So what of it? Those are some crazy bastards. They'd be capable to kill anything that stands in their way."

"Well, let me clarify some things for you. I am one of his general and I didn't end up a general just because of my abilities; and since you mentioned the part with 'They'd be capable to kill anything that stands in their way' YOU are standing in my way." When Tsukiya finished talking, Kouga was as white as a sheet. He knew that the fame that accompanied Sesshoumaru's generals was not made up and that many times it did not do justice to how cruel and vicious they could really be. "You will stay the night and tomorrow morning after breakfast you will say that you are already bored so you decided to leave. If you say anything of what we have just discussed to anyone… You get my hint, right?"

"Y-y-yes. Tomorrow morning I'll leave and I won't return."

"Very good. You are a fast learner. Try to act normal by the time we return to camp. If I lose Kagome because of you, you and your pack are dead."

The next morning Kouga said his good-byes and left.

**To be continued…**

**Sorry for the possible spelling or grammar mistakes, but I didn't have the time to proof read. **


	15. Chapter 15: Hidden Face

**Inuyasha does not belong to me.**

…

**Chapter 15: Hidden Face**

Three more months had gone by and Tsukiya's relationship with Kagome had made some serious progress. However, their relationship was not the only one the only one that advanced; ever since Sesshoumaru and his generals had joined Inuyasha's group they had managed to gather twenty shards, fact which made Kagome a little anxious.

"Don't you find this strange?"  
"What's strange?"

"Well, the fact that we haven't heard anything from Naraku for quite some time. I mean… he must be planning something… and it most certainly is big, otherwise…"

"Wench, you know what? Sometimes you worry that pretty head of yours too much."

"I'm serious Inuyasha! Just think about it. We've gathered twenty shards and he hasn't tried to steal them from us… not even once."

"You are right Lady Kagome; this does seem like the calm before the storm."

"If it makes you feel more at ease, koibito, we will pay more attention to our surroundings."

"Thank you, Tsukiya." Kagome caught his hand in order to make him stop and leaned over to give him a peek on the cheek. Action at which Tsukiya smiled softly, knowing that had they not had an audience she would have kissed him on the lips. Nevertheless, over the time they had been together as a couple, he got used to her shines and became better at understanding the subtleties of all her actions. He could not help but fall more and more in love with her with every passing day. He cherished her the way she was and loved every moment they spent together.

Sesshoumaru's mind

"**Why are you so irritated?"**

"I'm not irritated", answered Sesshoumaru in a flat and icy voice.

"**Yes, you are and we BOTH know why."**

"Did you surface again just to antagonize me?"

"**Oh, no! I could never do that to you. I'm surprised you even accused me of such a thing."**

"Yeah, right! Even you don't believe what you're saying."

"**You are free to think whatever you want, but I just surfaced to enjoy the view. Look! Aren't they the PERFECT couple? Just imagine what beautiful children they will have together!"**

"BEAST!"

"**What!? I was stating the obvious! Oh! Look! Doesn't it seem to you that they love each other sooo much…"**

"SHUT. UP. ALREADY!"

"**But why? Even a blind man could see that the girl has fallen deeply in love with him."**

"Yeah, she loves him because she doesn't know anything about his past, about how many villages he…"

"**Oh, please! Do you really believe she is so stupid? Of course, she knows or at least suspects. I mean… after all, he is one of your best generals…"**

"So what?"

"**So, it is quite obvious that he can be merciless and quite vicious when it comes to battles, killing people, things like that… otherwise, he would not be your general. Oh, and guess what? She LOVES him anyway!"**

"LISTEN. HERE. BEA…"

Back with the group

"Lord Sesshoumaru? Lord Sesshoumaru?", Sesshoumaru was brought back from his reverie by Kagome, "Are you all right?"

"Yes, why are you asking, _human_?"

"Well… you… kind of looked like… like you were ready to kill someone."

"It must have been your overacting imagination."

"Overacting imagination?"

"Yes, you became quite paranoid lately."

"Excuse me!?"

"I think that what I mean is quite obvious. You are under the impression that Naraku is everywhere or following us."  
Kagome raised an eyebrow at this comment, but decided to let it slide, since the last think she wanted to do was start an argument with him.

"See, I told you, you were overreacting wench!"

"Shut up Inuyasha, if you don't want me to sit you through the seven hells and back." Kagome's voice sounded so low and threatening, that Inuyasha not only became as white as a ghost, but apparently also decided that it was to his best interest to shut up.

Sesshoumaru's mind

"**You know that she is right, don't you?"**

"Of course, I know! But, what did you want me to tell them? That I was arguing with you!? Now, return to your corner or I'll lock you in your cage. Understood?"

"**Yes, **_**master.**_**"**

Back with the group

The group continued its journey after Kagome's small confrontation with Inuyasha, and stopped only twice, to eat lunch and to set up camp in a small clearing they had come across right before sunset.

As usual, after setting up the camp they divided the chores amongst themselves, and this time around Tsukiya chose Inuyasha to help him make sure that the surroundings were clear of any demons. When they were quite far away from camp Tsukiya stopped dead in his tracks, which attracted Inuyasha's attention.

"What are you doing demon? We're supposed to check the area not to admire the landscape."

Tsukiya did not like Inuyasha's voice, but he tried to contain his anger. "I wasn't admiring the landscape, mutt! I stopped because I wanted to have a private talk wi…"

"Mutt? Who are you calling mutt?"

"The idiot in front of me; I have a message for you and I hope you'll get, because I really hate it when I have to repeat myself."  
"A message!? What? Your master cannot give the 'message' himself, lizard? He has to send his faithful pet?" At this point Tsukiya's anger snapped and he hit Inuyasha so hard in the stomach, that when he collided with the tree behind him, it broke. Nevertheless, Tsukiya thought that this was not enough and that the hanyou need to learn his lesson well. So, before Inuyasha was able to get up, Tsukiya was right next to him.

"Don't you ever insult me again, mutt!" Having said this, Tsukiya caught Inuyasha by his haori and hurled him into another tree, which, just like the first one, broke under the force used. Yet again, Tsukiya was next to Inuyasha, before the later could get up. This time around, Tsukiya put his foot on Inuyasha's neck and started applying pressure. "What's wrong, mutt? Having problems breathing?" Inuyasha attempted to answer the question, but it was impossible for him to do so, since he could hardly breath. "I could kill you right now and say that I could not reach you in time when the demon attacked. However, I _will_ let you live because of Kagome. She would be very sad, if something were to happen to her beloved friend. So listen, and listen carefully, because I will say this just once. I won't hesitate to _kill_ you, if you try to ruin my relationship with Kagome again. After all, you can never know when a demon may attack… I think that I've tolerated more than enough you incessant pranks, and lastly, if you _ever _dare to talk back to her or call her names, as you did up until now, you won't live to tell the story. She deserves to be shown respect! Understood?" Having said this Tsukiya released him.

"Yes." Inuyasha answered after a fit of coughs in a ragged voice.

"Good. Now, let's continue our patrol. Ah, before I forget… since you look… let's say, a little… roughed up… You _will _say that a demon attacked us and we killed it. Otherwise, you know what awaits you, right?"

"Yes."

"'Yes' to what?"

"I agree with the story you came up with."

"Good, and don't forget our little… _talk_." Inuyasha just nodded and they were on their way.

**To be continued…**


	16. Chapter 16: Ambushed

**Inuyasha does not belong to me.**

…**.**

**Chapter 16: Ambushed**

To everyone's surprise, Inuyasha's attitude towards Kagome and her relationship with Tsukiya had changed drastically. Now, he was behaving himself around her and listened to everything she had to say, without ridiculing or insulting her, as he used to do up until a few days ago. Moreover, he seemed to be quite mindful of his colorful language, since he knew that this was one of the things that had bothered Kagome from the very beginning. All the members of the group had found this sudden change awkward to say the least, but no one bothered to ask question as to what had determined the change. No one except Kagome, who took advantage of the fact that this time around she and Inuyasha had stayed behind to take care of the camp, while the others went off to gather firewood, to hunt, and to make sure that the area the camp was in was safe.

"What happened to you Inuyasha?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

"I was referring to the sudden change in your behavior."

"Nothing, I just thought that you deserved to be treated with respect."

"You seriously want me to believe something like that? Come on Inuyasha, we know each other for quite some time, and we both know that you are lying?"

"Did Tsukiya do something to you? Was he the one who beat you up the night you came back to camp and said that you were attacked by a demon?"

"No, he saved me."

"Ok, let's say that he _did_ save you, why the sudden change?"

"Well, in return he asked me to change my behavior towards you and your relationship."

"And he didn't threaten you?"

"No. I'm telling you, he ask me to change my behavior towards you as a favor for saving me."

"And you just complied? You are not the submissive type, Inuyasha."

"Believe it or not, I accepted with no sign of protest whatsoever."

"Ok, if you say so. I will believe you. But, if he did anything to you or if he threatens you in any way, just tell me. I will deal with him." Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at this. "Look, I've noticed that he is very protective when it comes to me and he would not want anything to upset me. That is why I'm telling you that if he crosses the line tell me."

"Is he bothering you with his protectiveness?"

"No. I know that he only wants the best for me, but I have no way of knowing if he did something behind my back just to improve some things around here. If you understand what I mean." Inuyasha nodded at this.

"Don't worry, nothing of the sort happened."

"Ok, then. I'll never bring this subject up again."

This conversation put Kagome more at ease, so she decided that she should take advantage of the free time she had, to read from the books she brought with her to prepare for the exams. While she was reading, she was also thinking of a way to tell Tsukiya that she will soon have to return to the future for a month in order to be able to sit the exams. She could only hope that he would not have a similar reaction to Inuyasha's, because when she told them that she came from the future, she left out the part of pursuing an education there, and obviously, she also omitted the fact that once every six months she would have to return to the future for one month. Before she could have any more time to think about the way she should approach this subject with Tsukiya, the other members of the group started showing up.

….

After dinner, Kagome approached Tsukiya, who was talking with the other members of the group…

"I was wandering," she said in a playful tone of voice, while passing her hand through his ponytail, "if my fiancé would like to take a stroll with me." He smiled at her actions, because he knew that she liked playing with his hair, but he also knew that she used that tone of voice only when she wanted to get him away from the group without raising any suspicions. He was sure that she wanted to talk to him about something serious. However, instead of asking what this was all about, he took her cue and responded in a similar tone of voice. This way they made sure that no one would follow them, because they would probably think that the couple wanted to spend some time alone.

As soon as they had gotten far enough from camp, Tsukiya asked her…

"What did you want to tell me, koi?" She smiled at him, because she could not believe how well he understood all her action.

"I wanted to tell you something about the future… You see, I didn't tell you everything…" Tsukiya looked at her with interest, and although he wanted to ask her something, he did not interrupt her. "I am… how should I put this?"

"Well, try to explain it to me in words that I can understand." He smiled at her, in an attempt to encourage her.

"Ok," she sighed, "in the future everyone is allowed and _has_ to study, regardless of their gender… and there are various stages in ones education, but I am not going to explain all of them to you. I will tell you only what will interest you."

"So, as far as I understand from what you've said until now… is that you are still studying, right?"

"Yes, you can say that it is the last stage in my education, which means that I also have to spend a certain period of time in the future to take exams." He looked at her with interest, but said nothing. "The exams are a very important part of this system of education, because they test us in order to see if we have learned everything we were supposed to learn in a certain period of time."

"I see, and how much time are you supposed to stay in the future." He could feel her level of anxiety rising, and he knew that it was because his face was devoid of any emotion.

"I'm supposed to stay there a month."

"I suppose there wouldn't be a way for me to come with you, right?"

"Well, up until now only Inuyasha could cross, but if you want to come we could to try and see if you can cross. I would like it very much if you could come, because that way I wouldn't miss you." She said giving him a light kiss on the lips.

…

On their way back to camp, they all felt a sudden surge of demonic energy. It was not long after they entered the camp, that they were attacked.

"What's happening? Where did they all come from? When we checked the surroundings, there was no trace of demonic energy!" Hiro said with disbelief in his voice.

"This must be Naraku's hand," said Miroku.

"I see you haven't forgotten me. I came to take what's mine." Naraku said and made a sign to the hoard of demons he brought with him to attack. Many were low-level demons and they did not represent a real threat for the group, the only problem was that they were outnumbered. As soon as Kagome got the chance, she called out to Shippo and told him to go and stay near her backpack. No sooner than Shippo had reached it, Kagome put up a protective barrier around him and her backpack. Everyonenoticed that this time her barrier was more powerful than usual.

"What? You think you can protect your pup from my demons with a flimsy barrier?"

"I know that although the great majority of your demons are low-level, you've also brought with you very powerful demons."

"Oh so you think you know everything, now, do you?"

"No, not everything; just the facts that matter, for example, that you are just a puppet and that the real Naraku, is hiding somewhere like a cowered instead of fighting his own battles. Oh, yeah I forgot to mention that you won't be able to get to Shippo even if you hurt me. This is a new type of barrier I've been working on and it won't disintegrate if I get hurt."

"We'll see about that."

As the group was fighting the hoard of demons, they could see that Shippo's barrier was attacked several times by demons that had a considerable amount of power. It was as if the fox demon was the target. The battle had been raging on for half an hour, but there was no sign of improvement for Inuyasha's group. Regardless of how many demons they killed, their number kept increasing instead of decreasing. Kagome had attempted several massive scale attacks, but each time she attempted to protect her companions from her miko powers and at the same time to attack the enemy; her efforts were always rendered useless. What really happened to make things difficult for her, was that with each attack, her companions not only moved farther and farther away from each other, but they also changed their positions frequently, so this made it almost impossible for her to keep track of everyone in order to protect them from her powers. She had lost all hopes that she could end the battle by purifying the entire hoard together with Naraku's puppet, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere two very strong youkai entered the battle on their side. The two demons had been following the battle for quite some time from the shadows and realized what the miko had attempted to do on several occasions, so they decided to give her a hand. The moment they entered the battlefield, they made their way through the hoard of demons with one target in mind, to bring in the same place gather all the members of Inuyasha's team who had demon blood coursing through their veins. It was not long until they managed to do so either. Thus, when everyone was together she raised a barrier around them and released her purifying powers to destroy their enemies. It was only a matter of seconds until the entire area was emptied of demons and the barriers she had raised in order to protect her companions were lowered. Of course, Inuyasha, being his impulsive self, attempted to attack the two unknown youkai thinking that they were working for Naraku.

"SIT!"

"What did you do that for wen.." he said while he was getting up, "I mean… Kagome?"

"Because you were being yourself, as in attack now, ask questions later. They aren't with Naraku. In fact, if it hadn't been for them, we would still be fighting those demons. Apologize to them." Inuyasha obeyed her and apologized to them. "Now, could you tell us who you are and what do you want from us?"

**To be continued…**


	17. Chapter 17: Journey Home

**Inuyasha does not belong to me.**

…**.**

**Chapter 17: Journey Home **

Last time

"SIT!"

"What did you do that for wen.." Inuyasha said while he was getting up, "I mean… Kagome?"

"Because you were being your usual self, as in attack now, ask questions later. They aren't with Naraku. In fact, if it hadn't been for them, we would still be fighting those demons. Apologize!" Inuyasha obeyed her and apologized. "Now, could you tell us who you are and what do you want from us?"

Now

The two youkai looked dumfounded at her. They simply could not believe their eyes. Inuyasha, the hanyou they have heard so much about – of course about his uncontrollable behavior and his quite colorful vocabulary – was so easily controlled by a mere human being, a woman nonetheless. Kagome had noticed that the two were at a loss of words, so she cleared her throat to urge them on.

"My name is Juro and he is my brother Kuro," once he finished speaking both men bowed in sign of respect.

"We were looking for you," Juro went on, "because we heard that you were on the trail of the half demon called Naraku…"

"So what?" Inuyasha quickly cut him off.

"Naraku," Kuro continued his brother's sentence, "killed our family and all the inhabitants of our village."

"So now you want revenge," said Sango once Kuro stopped speaking. "How come you're still alive?"

"We were away on business the day our village was attacked."

"And how did you know that it was Naraku and not some other demon who killed your family and the other villagers?" Kagome asked in a slightly suspicious tone.

"There is no reason to be suspicious of us, miko. We want the same thing your friend, the demon slayer, wants. She has gone through the same thing if I am not mistaken." Juro answered.

"You still haven't answered my question, and how is it that you know what happened to Sango?"

"That's what we heard in our quest for you. As for _how_ we know, well… when we returned home, we found all the villagers slaughtered. However, one of them managed to escape and told us that the demons who did that said that Naraku sent them."

"Didn't you just say that you are the only survivors?"

"Yes, we are" Juro answered unfazed by the fact that Inuyasha's group was still suspicious of them. "That person was an old man and his injuries were too severe for him to be able to heal himself. He died days later."

"How come you are so strong? If your parents were killed in the raid, then they couldn't have been powerful youkai…" Tsukiya suddenly interfered in the conversation "which makes me think that you are lying. If the parents are weak, then their offspring can't be strong."

"The truth is that we were adopted into that family when we were little. We don't know exactly what happened, all we know is that our parents died in a mysterious way and a kind couple who couldn't have pups took us in."

"What business do you have with us?" Sesshoumaru asked with the intent of putting an end to the conversation.

"We want to join you in your quest."

"No." said Tsukiya in a flat tone.

"Why? All they want is revenge. Isn't that what we all want?"

"No, koi. We don't know them or what their real intentions are. There is no way of finding out if what they say is true or not."

"Well, I believe them and I think that some extra help wouldn't hurt. What do you say Lord Sesshoumaru? Do you feel any deceit coming off of them?"

"No. I guess you are right. After all, they are powerful youkai and if we are going to fend off attacks of this magnitude we need all the help we can get."

"I still disagree, we can't risk…"

"Tsukiya, our lord and your fiancé are right, besides beggars can't be choosers." Haruki decided to intervene in order to put an end to this argument.

"Fine, since our alpha also agrees…"

….

Three more weeks had gone by and everybody became accustomed to the presence of the new members of the group. Even Tsukiya, who was the most suspicious accepted the new members and started trusting them when they saved his life during the attack of one of Naraku's minions.

In the middle of the forth week since Juro and Kuro had joined the group, Kagome decided to announce that it was time for her to return to the future for one month in order to take her exams. As expected, Inuyasha threw one of his usual fits, but Kagome managed to shut him up by telling him that they did not have to interrupt the search of the shards on her account.

"Look Inuyasha, I will take with me Tsukiya, Juro, and Kuro, while the rest of you continue the search. Trust me, you will do just fine."

"Why do you need Juro and Kuro?"

"In case we are ambushed again. They've already proven themselves, so I have full confidence in their abilities to help out. Don't worry after I go home, they'll return to the group."

"And Tsukiya?"

"He's expressed his desire to come with me some time ago and I intend to take him with me, that is, if the well will allow it. If not, he'll return with Kuro and Juro."

This having been said, the next morning Kagome gathered her things and prepared for the journey back home. To her surprise, Tsukiya told her that they would not walk but fly to the old well, since they were so far away and he did not want to see his fiancé over exhausted from too much walking. He summoned his cloud and allowed Kagome to get on it, and then he took off. The other two followed his queue and took off too.

The journey seemed to be uneventful; when halfway to the well they were ambushed by a hoard of very powerful demons. The battle went on for about an hour, but the four companions did not seem to cope very well with the situation they were currently in. In fact, they seemed to stray farther and farther apart from each other, which only worsened the situation. Kagome was doing her best to fend them off, but she did not have much luck without her miko powers. She was well aware that if she used them, she could accidentally purify her fiancé and her friends, since she was unaware of their whereabouts. She soon grew so tired that she could barely fight the youkai Naraku sent. Unfortunately for her, the demons noticed this, and attacked her even more viciously, until she could not take it anymore and passed out. After what seemed like ages, she finally woke up in a room that was unknown to her only to see a familiar face, namely, that of her fiancé.

**To be continued and thank you for reading and for your support.**


	18. Chapter 18: Mind Games

**Inuyasha does not belong to me.**

**Italics = dream**

…**.**

**Chapter 18: Mind Games**

Last time

After what seemed like ages, she finally woke up in a room that was unknown to her, only to see a familiar face, namely, that of her fiancé.

Now

"Don't worry koi, you are safe now. All the demons are dead."

"Where are we?" Kagome asked still a little numb after the battle.

"In a small house I found." Kagome tried to get up, but she fell back on the futon, still a little dizzy.

"Don't try to get up yet. Maybe you should sleep some more to recover. You must be exhausted after that fight."

"But what about you?" her voice sounded as if she was already drifting back to sleep.

"Don't worry about me, koi. I'm a demon and I need less time than you to recover."

Before Tsukiya managed to finish his sentence, Kagome was already fast asleep. Nevertheless, her sleep seemed to be quite restless, since she kept frowning and turning around. She was back on the battlefield, reliving those horrible moments when she had no idea as to where her friends and fiancé were, torn between using or not using her powers…

_I need to use my powers, if I want to get out alive. But then again, if I do it, I might kill Tsukiya and the others. Oh, God what should I do? What if they are already dead… the demons… they are so powerful… It's like Naraku created them especially for this occasion. No! Kagome you have to think positive! They are all powerful demons; even if we were separated they are surely alive… somewhere._

"_My, my! But why so positive, my little miko?"_

"_Who are you? Show yourself!"_

"_Oh, but you know who I am. Focus on my voice. Don't you recognize it?"_

"_Naraku?"_

"_Who else?"_

"_What are you doing here? Where am I?"_

"_You're dreaming and I am in your dream. I came to show you something. Look…" Naraku pointed his index finger towards the place where Tsukiya was fighting for his life. Kagome looked sow something she never thought she would see. Tsukiya was losing the battle, while Juro and Kuro were lying on the ground, probably dead. _

"_No! This is a lie! You are playing games with my mind!"_

"_Am I now? What makes you so sure?"_

"_I've been awake, I've seen Tsukiya. He was alive and well."_

"_Are you sure that you weren't dreaming? After all, since you are currently in this… situation, how can you distinguish between the real world and the dream world?"_

"…"

"_How do you know that what I'm showing you is not a dream, but a memory… your memory?"_

"_No this can't be!"_

"_Yet, you beloved youkai is DEAD!"_

"_NO! You lie!"_

"_Look with your own eyes!"_

_Naraku was right. One minute Tsukiya was dead, while the other, he returned to live or better said, Kagura reanimated his corps with the sole purpose of tormenting Kagome._

"_It's your fault I died!"_

"…"

"_If it hadn't been for you, I'd be still alive."_

"_No, no! This is a nightmare." Kagome said with a terrified expression on her face. "You aren't dead! This is all Naraku's doing." She said the latter part in a softer voice more to herself than to anyone else, after which s_he suddenly jumped up, without noticing the pain in her muscles or her head. All she cared about, was to convince herself that it was all a nightmare and that Tsukiya was still alive. As she looked around the room, she finally noticed him sleeping against a wall. Without caring that she would wake him up, she run to him and embraced him.

"Oh, God! I'm so happy it was all a nightmare!"

"It wasn't a nightmare, miko." As soon as she heard the voice, she let go of Tsukiya to take a better look at him. There was no mistake, that was Tsukiya, but he had Naraku's voice. In a split second, Naraku broke the spell and reverted his old self.

"It wasn't a dream, miko. That was your memory."

"No, it can't be," she said with pain in her voice and with a face filled with horror, "it's impossible."

"Yes, it can, but don't cry. After all, you still have your friends. What was their name again? Jiro and Hiro?"

"You mean Juro and Kuro are still alive?"

"Yes, they weren't the target. Your fiancé was the target."

"Why?" Kagome asked with her face bathed in tears.

"Well, the answer a very simple. You see, you are a _very_ emotional being and your emotions affect your powers. You won't be able to fight me or my minions anymore." Kagome made an attempt at purifying him, but she failed. She was so grieved that she could not control her powers, she felt as if her entire world collapsed. She felt that Tsukiya's death drained her of her powers. "What? Can't summon your powers? Why, don't worry my dear, it's no wonder you are unable to do it, since you are in shock." Kagome remained frozen on the spot. She could not believe she was unable to summon her powers.

"What are you going to do with her?" asked Kagura.

"Let her go. She doesn't represent a threat for me anymore."

"Are you sure? Maybe later…"

"Are you questioning my decisions?"

"No, master. Please forgive me."

"Let's go. We have more important business to attend to then this useless wreck."

**To be continued…**


	19. Chapter 19: Feelings

**Inuyasha does not belong to me.**

…**..**

**Chapter 19: Feelings**

Shortly after Naraku left, Kuro and Juro managed to find Kagome, who was in a catatonic state. They tried to talk to her, but it was useless. In the end, they decided that the best course of action was to take her back to her friends. As soon as they managed to catch up with them, everyone was surprised to see that Kagome did not leave to take her exams. Kuro put everyone up to date with the events that took place and neither of the members of the group could believe that Tsukiya had died in the attack.

Sesshoumaru's Mind

"Something doesn't sound right. What do you think Beast?"

"**I agree. Tsukiya was a powerful youkai, it would not have been easy to kill him. I suppose it would have taken at least six or seven powerful youkai to take him out. Moreover, those youkai must have had a lot of years of military training in order to kill him."**

"Do you think that the youkai used Shikon shards to increase their powers?"

"**I don't think we should exclude this option. Why?"**

"I don't know, but I find it a little bit suspicious… I mean the fact that Juro and Kuro are still alive and not only that, but they don't seem to have any injuries."

"**Youkai heal fast."**

"Yes, we heal fast. However, if the demons that attacked them were as powerful as they say… I just find it strange that they don't have any cuts or bruises… and look at their clothes."

"**I don't see anything."**

"Exactly. There is no tear, while the miko's are destroyed."

"**But we didn't smell any deceit coming off of them when they joined our group. Maybe they stopped on their way here in a village to buy some new clothes."**

"Then why didn't they buy new clothes for the miko too?"

"**That would have implied that they should have changed her, after all, she's still in a catatonic state."**

"Maybe you are right, maybe they waited until they got here to ask Sango to change her and clean her wounds."

Back with the group

At the same moment Sesshoumaru decided to end his internal conversation and focus on what was happening in the group, he caught sight of Juro handing a kimono to Sango.

"Please take these cloths and help Kagome change. We tried to talk to her and make her change cloths, but she ignored us. Here is her backpack."

"Thank you, but you shouldn't have bought a kimono; she has cloths in her backpack."

"Yes, but they were soiled with blood. Look here." Juro showed her the part of the backpack that was soiled with blood and then he opened it so that she could see that the cloths were also stained with blood. "It's probably from the demons she killed."

"I see. Thank you. I'm going to take her to the river nearby and clean her wounds. It's strange that she didn't heal herself."

"She probably can't control her powers, since she's in a state of shock."

….

A few days had gone by since the incident and Kagome barely ate anything, let alone speak. Everyone was worried. They did not know what to do in order to get her out of that state. They knew that she suffered because Tsukiya was dead. Apparently, she loved him more then any of them could have ever suspected and this revelation made a certain person admit his true feelings.

Sesshoumaru's Mind

"**I don't like to see her like this."**

"…"

"**I never suspected that she loved him so much. I… didn't think it was anything serious. I really don't like to see her like this."**

"There's nothing we can do to alleviate her pain. I don't like to see her like this either. She's having nightmares every night. I wander what really happened back there."

"**Did I hear you right? You just said…"**

"I know what I said. You were right all this time. I am in love with her, but I didn't want to admit it."

"**What made you admit your feelings?"**

"All the dreams you've sent me and don't pretend it wasn't you… Then it was her relationship with Tsukiya…"

"**You didn't seem to care much about it at the time,"** the Beast interrupted him because he wanted to hear everything not just bits and peaces of the story. After all, he did not always know what went through his Masters mind, he knew only what Sesshoumaru let him know or every thought Sesshoumaru hid carelessly.

"I didn't; at least not at the very beginning of their relationship. I ended up regretting not taking your advice before Tsukiya and Kagome started their relationship. I started regretting it when I understood that they would end up mated, but it was too late. It is too late because she loves him."

"**He's dead."**

"This is not the time. We need to show the proper respect for Tsukiya's death. I will try to approach her in a year or so. She needs time to grieve and come to terms with her fiancé's death."

"**I agree. They both deserve that much." **

**To be continued…**


End file.
